Large-Scale Transmission Expansion Planning with Network Synthesis Methods for Renewable-Heavy Synthetic Grids

Adam B. Birchfield (), Jong-oh Baek and Joshua Xia
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Adam B. Birchfield: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
Jong-oh Baek: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
Joshua Xia: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 14, 1-19

Abstract: With increasing electrification and the connection of more renewable resources at the transmission level, bulk interconnected electric grids need to plan network expansion with new transmission facilities. The transmission expansion planning (TEP) problem is particularly challenging because of the combinatorial, integer optimization nature of the problem and the complexity of engineering analysis for any one possible solution. Network synthesis methods, that is, heuristic-based techniques for building synthetic electric grid models based on complex network properties, have been developed in recent years and have the capability of balancing multiple aspects of power system design while efficiently considering large numbers of candidate lines to add. This paper presents a methodology toward scalability in addressing the large-scale TEP problem by applying network synthesis methods. The algorithm works using a novel heuristic method, inspired by simulated annealing, which alternates probabilistic removal and targeted addition, balancing the fixed cost of transmission investment with objectives of resilience via power flow contingency robustness. The methodology is demonstrated in a test case that expands a 2000-bus interconnected synthetic test case on the footprint of Texas with new transmission to support 2025-level load and generation.

Keywords: power system planning; transmission expansion planning; synthetic electric grids; complex networks (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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