Electric power transmission network design for wind generation in the Western United States: Algorithms, methodology, and analysis

The current electric power grid is a result of incremental growth over the past 100 years under assumptions that a grid provides reliable and controllable generation of energy cheaply and with limited environmental impact. Moving into the twenty-first century, many of these assumptions will no longer hold; the existing grid is ill-equipped to handle the new requirements that it is being subjected to. This paper presents a novel hybridization algorithm to upgrade the existing electric power network to feasibly achieve future renewable energy generation goals. The algorithm was integrated with state-of-the-art electric power analysis approaches to produce feasible transmission networks to accommodate 20% wind power by 2030 goals.