Power system planning with high renewable energy penetration considering demand response

Electric system planning with high variable renewable energy(VRE)penetration levels has attracted great attention world-wide.Electricity production of VRE highly depends on the weather conditions and thus involves large variability,uncertainty,and low-capacity credit.This gives rise to significant challenges for power system planning.Currently,many solutions are proposed to address the issue of operational flexibility inadequacy,including flexibility retrofit of thermal units,inter-regional transmission,electricity energy storage,and demand response(DR).Evidently,the performance and the cost of various solutions are different.It is relevant to explore the optimal portfolio to satisfy the flexibility requirement for a renewable dominated system and the role of each flexibility source.In this study,the value of diverse DR flexibilities was examined and a stochastic investment planning model considering DR is proposed.Two types of DRs,namely interrupted DR and transferred DR,were modeled.Chronological load and renewable generation curves with 8760 hours within a whole year were reduced to 4 weekly scenarios to accelerate the optimization.Clustered unit commitment constraints for accommodating variability of renewables were incorporated.Case studies based on IEEE RTS-96 system are reported to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method and the DR potential to avoid energy storage investment.

A low-carbon oriented probabilistic approach for transmission expansion planning

Following the deregulation of the power industry,transmission expansion planning(TEP)has become more complicated due to the presence of uncertainties and conflicting objectives in a market environment.Also,the growing concern on global warming highlights the importance of considering carbon pricing policies during TEP.In this paper,a probabilistic TEP approach is proposed with the integration of a chance constrained load curtailment index.The formulated dynamic programming problem is solved by a hybrid solution algorithm in an iterative process.The performance of our approach is demonstrated by case studies on a modified IEEE 14-bus system.Simulation results prove that our approach can provide network planners with comprehensive information regarding effects of uncertainties on TEP schemes,allowing them to adjust planning strategies based on their risk aversion levels or financial constraints.

Optimal Feeder Routing in Urban Distribution Networks Planning with Layout Constraints and Losses

We address the problem of optimally re-routing the feeders of urban distribution network in Milano,Italy,which presents some peculiarities and significant design challenges.Milano has two separate medium-voltage(MV)distribution networks,previously operated by two different utilities,which grew up independently and incoordinately.This results in a system layout which is inefficient,redundant,and difficult to manage due to different operating procedures.The current utility UNARETI,which is in charge of the overall distribution system,aims at optimally integrating the two MV distribution networks and moving to a new specific layout that offers advantages from the perspectives of reliability and flexibility.We present a mixed-integer programming(MIP)approach for the design of a new network configuration satisfying the so-called 2-step ladder layout required by the planner.The model accounts for the main electrical constraints such as power flow equations,thermal limits of high-voltage(HV)/MV substation transformers,line thermal limits,and the maximum number of customers per feeder.Real power losses are taken into account via a quadratic formulation and a piecewise linear approximation.Computational tests on a small-scale system and on a part of the Milano distribution network are reported.

HVDC Macrogrid Modeling for Power-flow and Transient Stability Studies in North American Continental-level Interconnections

voltage direct current(HVDC)transmission lines are being constructed throughout the world,aided by advancements in power electronics and the potential value to transfer power between distant areas and off-shore locations.Multiple HVDC lines within and across large AC interconnections could bring about economic benefits such as interregional capacity exchange and transfer of low-cost,distant electric energy directly to load centers.In addition,network configuration of HVDC lines could result in additional benefits that have not been deeply studied.This paper describes the modeling process for continentallevel power system interconnections with the addition of multiple HVDC lines configured as a macrogrid.The models used for study are based on industry-accepted power-flow and dynamic system models for the North American Eastern and Western Interconnections.The model provides insight on feasibility and initial steady-state and stability tests of the HVDC macrogrid and its interactions with the existing electricity infrastructure,opening the door to analysis of the technical value of such a macrogrid.

Estimating life-cycle energy payback ratio of overhead transmission line toward low carbon development

The energy conservation plays an important role for low carbon development.In order to evaluate the energy conservation in the full life-cycle,a scheme to estimate the energy consumption,or alternatively the energy pay,in constructing an overhead transmission line is proposed in this paper.The analysis of a typical projection is given for demonstration.With new additional overhead transmission lines,the energy consumption,known as the power loss in power network,is expected to be decline,which is defined in this paper as the energy payback.In order to estimate this kind of contribution,the scheme that consisted of load forecast,production simulation for generating systems,load flow simulation and power loss calculation has been proposed.Case studies,based on the IEEE 24-bus test system,are given to demonstrate the efficacy of the schemes.Moreover,several presumptive scenarios are deployed and analysed with the presented schemes for comparison.