Identification of Suitable Locations for HVDC Links within Meshed AC Networks

Abstract

This paper presents a method for the suitable placement of HVDC links in meshed AC networks. A mixed integer linear programming (MILP) optimization problem is formulated to identify the HVDC links to be installed and to inherently determine their optimal operating point. The optimization aims to reduce congestion situations in the grid. Investment costs are integrated into the optimization problem using the $\varepsilon$ -constraint method. The effect of the operating point on the AC grid is calculated via linear sensitivity factors, namely power transfer distribution factors (PTDF) and line outage distribution factors (LODF). An adaption of the approach is proposed to reduce the problem complexity for the application to real-scale grid structures with multiple grid snapshots. The validation is done using the IEEE 39 Bus New England Power System and a synthetic network with 120 stations as well as multiple grid snapshots. The simulation results show the suitability of the adapted approach as well as its applicability to real-scale transmission expansion planning problems. The installation of a single HVDC link increases the level of system security within the synthetic test system by more than 85%. Additional HVDC links enable further reductions of overloads.