Effectiveness of Cost-Justified Expansion Plans in Relieving Network Congestion

Determine whether a cost-justified generation and transmission expansion plan can effectively alleviate network congestion in a deregulated electricity market.

Background

The paper explains that generation and transmission expansion planning in deregulated electricity markets commonly optimizes capital and operating costs rather than explicitly minimizing congestion. Because high renewable penetration and rapid growth in integrated data-center loads can substantially alter system operations, the congestion-relief consequences of an economically optimal expansion plan are uncertain. The proposed BESS-based virtual transmission line framework evaluates this issue through a revised IEEE 24-bus case study, but the general effectiveness of cost-justified expansion plans across deregulated-market settings remains unresolved.