Transmission expansion via maximization of the volume of feasible bus injections

• Published in: Electric power systems research Vol. 116; pp. 36 - 44
• Main Authors: Thiam, F.B., DeMarco, C.L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01-11-2014; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Bilateral/multilateral transaction; Effective resistance; Electrical engineering. Electrical power engineering; Electrical power engineering; Exact sciences and technology; Graph theory; Laplacian embedding; Miscellaneous; Operation. Load control. Reliability; Power networks and lines; Resistance distance; Transmission expansion planning; North America; America; Laplacian embedding; Effective resistance; Graph theory; Bilateral/multilateral transaction; Resistance distance; Transmission expansion planning; Performance evaluation; Bilateral agreements; Multilateral agreements; Power system economics; Load flow; Trade; Transmission line; Power flow; Coal; Power markets; IEEE standards; Power transmission planning; Power system planning; Algorithm; Forecasting management; Bus system; Dimensioning; Algorithm performance; Electrical network; S matrix; Matrix method; Natural gas
• ISSN: 0378-7796; 1873-2046
• DOI: 10.1016/j.epsr.2014.05.004

•A new approach in transmission expansion planning is presented here, this work develops transmission performance metrics that are intrinsic to the network itself, without dependence on specific generation and load scenarios.•The methods herein yield computationally efficient algorithms for siting and sizing transmission links.•Line siting and sizing via minimization of line effective resistance and maximization of the volume of feasible power injections. The algorithms are illustrated for the IEEE 300-bus test system.
The predicted turnover in North America's fleet of electric generation, and the diverse sources (e.g., natural gas, nuclear, coal, wind, photovoltaic, solar thermal) suggests great uncertainty in both type and geographic location of the future generation mix. This presents huge challenges to existing methods in transmission expansion planning that rely on assembly of detailed scenarios for assumed types and locations of future generation and load growth. As a fundamentally different philosophy, this paper seeks a quantitative measure of transmission system performance that is intrinsic to the network itself. In particular, we examine the impact of network expansion on the generalized volume of bus power injections feasible under line flow. Using the standard construct of the dc power flow approximation, this paper demonstrates that such a measure is easily defined analytically. From knowledge only of the base case network's bus susceptance matrix, the approaches in this paper yield computationally efficient algorithms for siting and sizing transmission links: line siting and sizing via minimization of line effective resistance and maximization of the volume of feasible power injections. While a wide range of other policy, environmental, and engineering issues will remain important to transmission planning, the methods here will enhance planning by providing quantitative ranking of candidate network additions with respect to overall transmission system performance. The algorithms are illustrated for the IEEE 300-bus test system.