BUILDING RESILIENCE WITHIN DOD MICROGRIDS BY CONSIDERING HUMAN FACTORS IN RECOVERY PROCEDURES

Abstract

In support of the National Defense Strategy, the Department of Defense (DoD) has recognized energy security as an essential part of its strategic intent. In keeping with the DoD's strategic goals, the Department of the Navy announced three pillars of success to meet those goals: Resilience, Reliability, and Efficiency. To best establish energy security for DoD installations, microgrids have been embedded into the energy systems as additional energy sources and controls that support mission readiness. Previous microgrid resilience research has focused on system design and cost efficiency. Considering a different approach, this thesis will pose the question of whether established recovery procedures build resilience within DoD microgrids. Using the Human Performance Impact Recovery Analysis (HPIRA) tool developed as a part of this research, human cognition and human error are implemented into various recovery procedures to determine the most successful recovery times and the man-hours required for a successful recovery. This research demonstrates the impact of human cognition in human actions and allows microgrid stakeholders to understand how human factors impact a microgrid system’s recovery.