Transmission network expansion planning with wind energy integration: A stochastic programming model

The growing penetration of wind energy has introduced increasing uncertainties to power grids. As a result, it is necessary to develop new models and algorithms in transmission network expansion planning (TNEP) so as to deal with the risks. In this paper a stochastic programming model is proposed to carry out the TNEP. Moreover, an effective hybrid algorithm, which is the combination of evolutionary algorithms (EA) and Benders´ Decomposition (BD) technique, is developed to solve the formed programming model. Theoretically, the EAs have the advantage of rapidly locating a high-quality region and the BD can accelerate the search to find the optimal solution within the region. In addition, the hybrid method is tested by the modified Garver´s system and the IEEE 14 bus system. Promising results are obtained to validate its effectiveness.