Coordinated investment in wind-rich regions using dynamic line rating, energy storage and distributed static series compensation to facilitate congestion management

Abstract

Wind farms installed at wind-rich regions often located in remote areas increase overloads in the weak adjacent transmission network. As a result of this congestion, extra transmission capacity is required to avoid wind energy or load curtailment that can be achieved by applying some modifications. New line construction and line uprating have been recognised as conventional solutions for the transmission capacity increase. Meanwhile, in the last decade, these solutions have brought several serious issues for the network operators, forcing them to evaluate and install different types of assets based on state-of-the-art technology in order to harvest the existing lines at the maximum possible level. An investment model is developed to relieve the congestion, including dynamic line rating (DLR), distributed static series compensation and energy storage systems (ESS), with a simplified unit commitment implementation. The resulting mixed-integer linear model is then solved with the classic Benders decomposition. Installations of DLR and distributed static series compensator (DSSC) on the same line are formulated, with techno-economic analysis performed for different asset combinations on the IEEE RTS 24 bus system, for high wind energy share scenarios. Wind curtailment levels are studied for different DLR/DSSC approaches, including the impact of practical implementation requirements. Based upon additional interlinking constraints, the robustness of investment decisions for independent DLR and DSSC investments is compared against approaches where DLR and DSSC investments are permitted on the same line. The investment based on sequential incorporation of the unit commitment in the study is also investigated to reflect the importance of the integration of the unit scheduling in the model for high renewable systems.