Bojana Barać, Balaji V. Venkatasubramanian, Tomislav Capuder, Mathaios Panteli
The growing presence of distributed energy resources (DERs) requires better orchestration between Transmission System Operators (TSOs) and Distribution System Operators (DSOs) for secure power system operation. While typically studied for reliability, the potential of TSO-DSO energy exchange to improve resilience during extreme events needs more research. Moreover, existing studies focus on leveraging DER flexibility to enhance distribution system resilience. This paper introduces a novel framework that evaluates the impact of DER flexibility on overall system resilience, considering the spatial progression of hazard events across both transmission and distribution networks. The framework encompasses spatiotemporal modeling of hazard scenarios and dynamic analyses to assess contributions of TSO-DSO energy exchange to resilience enhancement, using metrics such as frequency settling time and unserved load. Application of this framework to a 39-node system, representing both transmission and distribution (T&D) network, reveals that DER flexibility can significantly reduce frequency settling time – by up to 47% in high-inertia systems and over 65% in low-inertia systems – highlighting the impact of DERs on the rapid restoration of power balance and the prevention of widespread blackouts. Simultaneously, the unserved load is reduced by approximately 52.49% in high-inertia systems and 39.67% in low-inertia systems.