Transmission Expansion in an Open Access Environment: Reliability and Economics

输电扩建是全国重要的可靠电力供应领域，但在美国却严重投资不足。根据北美电力可靠性委员会(NERC)的说法，“计划的大规模输电线路增加很少；还必须开发新的地区规划实体、充分的定价激励措施以及改进和简化的审批程序，以应对开放市场对新输电线路的需求。”在竞争环境中，独立系统运营商(ISO)(或地区输电组织(RTO))负责维护互联电网的系统可靠性。国际标准化组织还经营电网，实施电能交易。然而，ISO并不投资于输电扩建，而输电业主等投资者则投资于输电扩建。我们将开发分析方法，根据成本和收入确定输电业主愿意投资于输电扩建项目的决策点。该方法要求电力系统在考虑系统安全和阻塞约束的情况下进行优化，这项研究有望对如何设计有关输电扩展的市场规则产生影响。由此产生的规则将为市场提供必要的经济信号，以确保美国的输电能力达到足够的水平。

Transmission expansion is a nationally important area for reliable supply of electric energy and yet it is seriously under-invested in the U.S. According to North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC), '"very few bulk transmission line additions are planned; new regional planning entities, adequate pricing incentives, and improved, streamlined approval processes also must be developed to deal with the need for new transmission lines for an open market."In a competitive environment, the Independent System Operator (ISO) (or Regional Transmission Organization (RTO)) is charged with the responsibility to maintain the system reliability of an interconnected power grid. The ISO also operates the power grid and implements the transactions of electric energy. However, the ISO does not invest in the transmission expansion; the investors such as transmission owners do.We propose a stochastic model for the revenues of the transmission owners. We will develop analytical methods that determine the point of decision where a transmission own would be willing to invest in a transmission expansion project based on the costs and revenues. The proposed method requires power system optimization incorporating system security and congestion constraints.This proposed research is expected to make an impact on how the market rules concerning transmission expansion should be designed. The resulting rules would provide the necessary economic signals in the market in order to ensure an adequate level of transmission capacity in the U.S.