Accommodation of loop flows in competitive electric power systems.

摘要

Unscheduled Flows (USFs) are the deviation of the actual electric power flow from the pre-arranged scheduled flow on transmission circuits. USFs in wide-area interconnected electric power systems are caused by the fact that electric power flows occur according to physical laws and not according to schedules. The USF phenomenon has been a problem in the largest interconnection in the United States, the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC), since the 1960s. The presence of USFs has potential harmful effects on the operation and the economics of the system. Previous research to solve the problem of USFs by curtailing schedules and accommodation has failed due to inherent disadvantages.; The research in this dissertation incorporates a systems approach into the development of a market tool for the equitable accommodation of USFs. A novel concept of accommodating the pre-congestion level unscheduled flows in the system among participating generation companies (GENCOs) by designing a "take or pay" charge for loading the transmission circuits with loop flows is developed. This is a departure from the present industry practice of managing USFs from perspective of a transmission companies (TRANSCOs) by control and curtailment of schedules.; A linear model relating the minor loop flows to the USFs on transmission circuits is developed and validated. A conservative statistical test based on the structure of the incidence matrix is devised for establishing a level of confidence in estimation. Several state estimation techniques uncommon to the field of electric markets arc employed for estimation as well as validation purposes. The new method is numerically easier, unempirical and not heuristic as the present methods.; A novel formula for determining the individual contribution of every generating utility in a loop flow scenario is invented. The formula is used in conjunction with transmission pricing paradigms to obtain the cost associated with each utility toward USFs in the system.; An original algorithm and a user-friendly, menu-driven Graphical User Interface (GUl) are developed to electronically tag schedules of utilities and determine the contribution of a utility based on state estimation methods using the novel contribution factor formula.