Transmission Expansion in an Open Access Environment: Reliability and Economics

输电扩建是国家电力可靠供应的重要领域，但在美国，这一领域的投资严重不足。根据北美电力可靠性委员会（NERC）的说法，“很少有大规模输电线路扩建计划；还必须建立新的区域规划实体、适当的价格激励措施和改进的、简化的审批程序，以满足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）（或区域输电组织（RTO））负责维护互联电网的系统可靠性。ISO还运营电网并实施电能交易。但是，ISO不投资于传输扩展；而投资者，比如输电业主，则需要。我们提出了输电业主收入的随机模型。我们将开发分析方法，根据成本和收入确定输电网公司愿意投资输电网扩建项目的决策点。该方法要求电力系统优化考虑系统安全性和拥塞约束。本文的研究将对如何设计输电扩张的市场规则产生影响。由此产生的规则将在市场上提供必要的经济信号，以确保美国有足够的输电能力

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.