HUMAN-CENTRIC AND SECURE POWER SYSTEM RESILIENCE AGAINST WILDFIRE RISKS FOR NEXT-GENERATION SMART GRIDS

Abstract

The increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires pose a serious threat to modern power systems, causing transmission line failures, equipment damage, prolonged power outages, and significant economic losses. Conventional power grid protection and monitoring systems are primarily designed to respond to electrical faults and often lack the capability to predict, detect, and mitigate wildfire-related risks in real time. Existing approaches rely heavily on manual inspections, weather forecasts, and isolated sensing techniques, which provide limited situational awareness and delayed response. Furthermore, the integration of renewable energy resources, distributed generation, and cyber-physical infrastructures has increased the complexity of maintaining grid resilience during wildfire events. There is a critical need for a human-centric, intelligent, and secure power system that integrates advanced sensing, artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, resilient communication, and cybersecurity mechanisms to proactively identify wildfire threats, protect critical infrastructure, ensure public safety, and maintain continuous power supply under extreme environmental conditions.