Transmission Capacity: Availability, Maximum Transfer, and Reliability

The available transfer capability (ATC) is an important parameter for all companies participating in power transaction activities. The main objective of this work is to propose a new methodology to determine the best points in the system to add new agents (sellers and buyers), in order to maximize the ATC without violating a pre-established reliability level. In the process, the ATC probability density function is determined considering uncertainties from equipment unavailabilities. The proposed algorithm uses Monte Carlo simulation to select system state and linear programming with a dc power flow model, to analyze and optimize each selected state. The IEEE reliability test system (RTS) is used to illustrate the proposed methodology.