Transmission expansion planning under increased uncertainties, towards efficient and sustainable power systems

Transmission expansion planning under increased uncertainties, towards efficient and sustainable power systems

Ciupuliga, A.R.

Van der Meijden, M.A.M.M. (promotor)
Kling, W.L. (promotor)

Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

Intelligent Electrical Power Grid

2013-11-01

The ongoing liberalization process around the world has led to the emergence of energy markets, facilitating more international trade between countries making the best use of energy resources and optimizing overall power systems. Consequently, inter-area power exchanges have significantly increased and further growth can be foreseen. In Europe, the planning of large energy infrastructures has entered a new dimension, namely the trans-European one. The way of thinking is gradually switching from national to regional (European) interests, as this is the most efficient way to attain a sustainable energy future. This brings many new challenges. Europe finds itself at the beginning of a transition towards a low carbon and sustainable electricity supply system, which is guided by the European Union (EU) Energy Policy core objectives: competitiveness, reliability and sustainability. This thesis looks at transmission expansion planning approaches under increased uncertainties. The liberalization of the electricity sector, the emergence of international electricity markets and increased penetration of renewable energy sources introduce many new challenges to transmission system operators. This is mainly because the complexity and related uncertainties in the power system have very much increased. These uncertainties are around the transmission scheduling and operation, and are especially related to the future needs for transmission capacity. Consequently, more advanced and robust methods for planning the transmission grid are needed. In addition, the building of new transmission lines is usually a lengthy process because of the authorization process duration. This process needs to become shorter in order to match the fast pace of changes in generation capacity and location. The main contributions of this thesis are: a new (round-the-year) method and new criteria for assessing the bottlenecks in the grid; a security-based iterative method for proposing network reinforcements; investigating the potential development of a transnational offshore grid in the North Sea and its effects on the onshore system; proposing an approach for streamlining approval procedures of transmission lines and fostering societal acceptance of transmission lines.

transmission expansion planning
sustainable power systems
renewable energy sources
societal acceptance

https://doi.org/10.4233/uuid:85bb06ff-b640-43dc-85eb-ec1ee81c4108

9789462034532

Institutional Repository

doctoral thesis

(c) 2013 Ciupuliga, A.R.