Joint expansion planning for natural gas and electric transmission with endogenous market feedbacks

Abstract

The recent and rapid shift towards the increased use of natural gas for power generation has convinced both power grid operators and regulators that additional coordination between electric power and natural gas transmission is needed to ensure the reliable operation of both systems. We report on an ongoing modeling effort for joint gas-grid expansion planning. We develop a Combined Electricity and Gas Expansion (CEGE) planning model that determines least-cost network expansions for power and gas transmission in a way that endogenizes the effects of expansion decisions on locational costs for electric power and natural gas deliveries. The CEGE model, which leverages recent advances in convex approximations for large-scale nonlinear systems, is illustrated on a new gas-grid test system topologically similar to the Northeastern United States. We show that the CEGE model is computationally tractable, and how the model might be used to jointly plan infrastructures to avoid extreme events such as the coincident gas-electric peaks experienced during the 2014 polar vortex.