Applicability of topology control algorithms (TCA) to a real-size power system

Transmission topology control (line switching) is currently a manual operator intervention by power system operators implemented on an ad-hoc basis and relying on either the operators´ previous experience or on a set of fixed procedures linking congestion with topology changes. While the co-optimization of network topology and generation resources has been shown to provide significant congestion cost reduction, the problem is intractable even for moderate-size systems. Our previous work developed near-optimal and tractable topology control algorithms (TCA) that employ sensitivity information extracted from a standard ED solution for a given starting topology to identify promising switch on or off line candidates. We have also developed shift-factor-based MILP TCAs that are more efficient while being consistent with ED algorithms adopted today by ISOs. This paper summarizes experience with and assessment of these methods on real-size intra-day market data based on three historical one-week periods of the PJM system.