Building synthetic power transmission networks of many voltage levels, spanning multiple areas

Abstract

Synthetic power grids, that is, test cases designed to match realistic structural and statistical characteristics of actual grids, are useful for research, development, and demonstration of innovations, since the cases are fictitious and thus free from data confidentiality issues. Building on previous work, this paper addresses a couple of related problems in the transmission network synthesis process. These issues appear as created cases become larger and involve multiple areas and overlapping nominal voltage levels. A fast, scalable hierarchical clustering is designed to assign voltage levels to substations considering the needs of the system, the specific constraints of the area, and smooth interconnections between neighboring areas with different voltage levels. A line topology generation framework is considered that is appropriate for many networks of different voltage levels, constructed together for a useful, realistic grid. These methods are demonstrated in a new 2000 bus test case, validated and publicly released.