  Improving distribution grid reliability is a major challenge for planning and
operation of distribution systems having a high share of distributed generators
(DGs). The rise of DGs share can lead to unplanned contingencies while on the
other hand, they can provide flexibility in supporting grid operations after a
contingency event. This paper presents an optimal energy interruption planning
approach that dispatches the flexibility from DGs and performs a cost-optimal
load shedding of flexible loads. The proposed approach is tested on a synthetic
grid, representing typical urban and low voltage feeders in EU with
distribution networks modeled in radial and meshed configurations. The study
shows that the proposed optimization process can be successfully used to plan
resources during contingency event and this can lead to a reduction in energy
not supplied and improvement of reliability indices.
