Real options on power system planning under uncertainties and efficiency constraints

Deregulation and large-scale renewable energy penetration have increased uncertainties in power system planning. Strategic flexibility in project planning and decision making is needed to mitigate increasing risks. This paper proposes a methodology that improves decision making by valuing the flexibility of investment strategies to cope with uncertainty. This is done by integrating maintenance and expansion planning. The flexibility of investment strategies, including reinvestment and expansion projects under uncertainties, is evaluated by a Real Option approach. The proposed methodology is tested on a 30-bus IEEE system. Monte Carlo simulations of uncertain state variables and the Least-Squares Monte Carlo approach are applied for evaluating investment options using dynamic backward programming. The analysis shows that flexible strategies gain in importance with increasing uncertainty and under efficiency constraints. In addition, the deferral of the final investment decision between alternative strategies remains a valuable option.