MORE | Fall 2019

Integration of Renewables and Cost-Efficient Technologies in Transmission Expansion Planning

Extreme weather events can cause blackouts by damaging the electric network. While peak loads are projected to increase over time, the transmission capacity of current-carrying lines is estimated to reduce due to elevating ambient temperatures. Moreover, transmission components once installed are hard to relocate and expensive to upgrade. Thus, efficient planning of the electric transmission network is timely and crucial. This research proposes optimization models to minimize investment and operational costs, which applies valid inequality constraints to reduce solution search space. In addition, these models will fulfill the Renewable Portfolio Standard to align with environmental regulations.