A Deep Reinforcement Learning Method for Multi-objective Transmission Switching

Abstract: Transmission switching is a well-established approach primarily applied to minimize operational costs through strategic network reconfiguration. However, exclusive focus on cost reduction can compromise system reliability. While multi-objective transmission switching can balance cost savings with reliability improvements, feasible solutions become exceedingly difficult to obtain as system scale grows, due to the inherent nonlinearity and high computational demands involved. This paper proposes a deep reinforcement learning (DRL) method for multi-objective transmission switching. The method incorporates a dueling-based actor-critic framework to evaluate the relative impact of each line switching decision within the action space, which improves decision quality and enhances both system reliability and cost efficiency. Numerical studies on the IEEE 118-bus system verify the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed approach compared to two benchmark DRL algorithms.