A Large-Scale Test System for Transmission Expansion Planning with AC Networks Model

It is more realistic and consistent with the electrical energy flow laws to model transmission expansion planning problems with an AC network representation (ACTEP). In this paper, we propose a new large-scale test system for ACTEP studies. The proposed 1354-bus ACTEP system is based on Case1354pegase available in MATPOWER. The system is modified to be useful for ACTEP studies, and the candidate lines and candidate generating units are added to the system based on their role in improving the operation of the system. Global-TEP (a specific-purpose global solver for the ACTEP problem) is used to find the ACTEP global solution with a guaranteed optimality gap. Several numerical tests are run to illustrate the advantages of the proposed test system. In contrast, previous test systems are much smaller and do not have reported global optima with guaranteed gaps. The proposed test system and its numerical results can be used as a benchmark for future ACTEP studies.

I. Introduction

The transmission expansion planning (TEP) problem is a long-term decision-making to reinforce the transmission network by adding new transmission lines. TEP is necessary to compensate load growth, mitigate transmission congestion, provide non-discriminatory transmission access for all market participants, and support system reliability [1].