Optimal utilization and planning of modernized electricity transmission grids

与国家和全球趋势一致，艾伯塔省的电力部门将进行转型。煤炭发电机组计划到2030年退役，阿尔伯塔省的大部分电力来自清洁资源，这是一个不断增长的市场和兴趣。新增的清洁电力预计将主要通过(i)与输电系统相连的风能和太阳能发电机和（ii）与配电系统相连的可再生能源发电机，例如屋顶太阳能发电机提供。此外，将各种形式的现场、表后分布式能源（DER）整合到全省的配电网络中正在增长。这些变化扰乱了整个电网的能量流动模式，并在电力系统的供需端引入了前所未有的不确定性，使电网规划比以往任何时候都更具挑战性。这种伙伴关系是Zareipour博士和艾伯塔省电力系统运营商（AESO）之间成功结束的合作研究计划的延续。本研究将设计新的方法和工具，在合理的计算时间内，考虑比现有方法更多的规划因素和未来情景，灵活地增强输电系统优化利用和规划的过程。这个研究课题很重要，因为它的潜在成果将在短期内使行业能够加强他们的规划过程，同时节省通常令人望而却步的昂贵的工程时间和资源。从长远来看，随着电力行业的转型和新挑战的出现，这种积极合作的结果将使该行业通过更智能、更具成本效益的电网投资，在经济和社会上直接节省纳税人的开支。从更广泛的国家利益角度来看，这项研究的结果将支持维持一个可靠的、负担得起的、逐步清洁的电力系统。这反过来将有助于保持加拿大经济的竞争优势，并支持加拿大实现其国际减排承诺。

Consistent with national and global trends, Alberta's power sector is set to transform. The coal generation fleet is planned to retire by 2030 and there is a growing market and interest to produce a large share of Alberta's electricity from clean resources. The additional clean electricity is expected to be mostly supplied through (i), transmission-connected wind and solar generators, and (ii), renewable distribution-connected generators- for example, rooftop solar energy generators. Additionally, integration of various forms of on-site, behind-the-meter distributed energy resources (DER) into power distribution networks across the province is growing. These changes disrupt the patterns of energy flow across the grid and introduce unprecedented uncertainty in both supply- and demand-side of the electricity systems, making grid planning more challenging than ever. This partnership is the continuation of a successfully concluded collaborative research program between Dr. Zareipour and the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO). This research will design new methods and tools for flexibly enhancing the process of optimal transmission system utilization and planning by considering more planning factors and future scenarios than existing methods while rendering solutions at a reasonable computation time. This research topic is important because its potential outcomes will, in the short-term, enable the industry enhance their planning processes while saving the often prohibitively expensive engineering time and resources. In the longer term, and as the power sector transforms and new challenges emerge, the outcomes of this proactive partnership would position the industry to directly save ratepayers both economically and socially through smarter, cost-effective grid investments. From a broader national interest perspective, the outcomes of the research will support maintaining a reliable, affordable, and progressively clean electricity system. This will in turn help maintain the competitive advantage of the Canadian economy and supports Canada in reaching its international emission reduction commitments.