Power System Flexibility Improvement and Loss Reduction Using Optimal Restructuring of Transmission Network

Power system flexibility (PSF) indicates the ability of a power network to reliably and cost-effectively manage the variability and uncertainty of demand and supply across all relevant time-scales. PSF has become a main topic of research due to increased penetration of renewable energy (RE) in the utility networks. Different methods and techniques have been explored for PSF improvement in the recent years. This paper is focussed to design an optimal restructuring of the practical transmission system to improve PSF. A power system restructuring flexibility index (PSRFI) is designed using the voltage deviations of all buses and fractional network loss to assess the flexibility level of the transmission system to feed quality power to the consumers. Study is performed for the base year 2021, projected 2031, and two proposals for network restructuring. Load projections have been carried out using least square approximation method. Cost benefit analysis is carried out to assess the payback period for investment incurred on the network restructuring. It is established that PSF has been improved significantly by optimal network restructuring.