Transmission expansion planning using contingency criteria

This paper proposes a methodology for choosing the best transmission expansion plan considering various types of security (operating reliability) criteria. The proposed method minimizes the total cost that includes the investment cost of transmission as well as the operating cost and standby cost of generators. The purpose of the study is development of new methodology for solving transmission system expansion planning problem subject to (N - alpha) contingency criteria which are essentially extensions of the (N-1) contingency criterion. The transmission expans problem uses an integer programming framework, and the optimal strategy is determined using a branch and bound method that utilizes a network flow approach and the maximum flow-minimum cut set theorem. The characteristics of the proposed method are illustrated by applying it to a five-bus system and a 21-bus system. The results of these case studies demonstrate that the proposed method provides a practical way to find an optimal plan for power system expansion planning.