Fig. 6: Network isolators suppress failure spreading in full non-linear AC load flow.
From: Network isolators inhibit failure spreading in complex networks
a An initially failing link with unit flow (red) in the British power grid results in changes of real power flow (colour code) throughout the whole network, as obtained by computing a non-linear full AC power flow44. b, c After introducing a network isolator based on the strategy presented in panel (a of Fig. 3), failure spreading is perfectly inhibited in the linear power flow approximation, and still significantly reduced in the non-linear full AC load flow. d We compare the median absolute flow changes, calculated using the non-linear load flow (Eq. (12)), after the failure of the link in the initial grid (dashed lines, a) and the modified grid (dotted lines, c). Whereas the flow changes in the lower module of the power grid (dark blue nodes) stay approximately the same after the grid modification (dark blue lines), they are significantly reduced in the grid’s upper module (light blue nodes) that is shielded by the network isolator (light blue lines).
