Modeling the regional electricity network in Southeast Europe

The objective of this analysis is to investigate the potential benefits of a regional electricity market in Southeast Europe in 2005. The study models the operation of electric power systems of seven countries. The primary software tool is the GTMax model, which was used to analyze the operation of individual utility systems, as well as their operation in a regional electricity market. Four typical weeks in different seasons of 2005 are simulated. To capture the variability of hydro inflows and their influence on hydro generation, the analysis is performed for three hydrological conditions: wet, average, and dry. In the analysis of regional electricity market scenario, GTMax is used to calculate hourly values of locational marginal prices for all nodes of the regional network and to optimize power transactions among the utility systems. A comparison of operating costs obtained for the two scenarios showed that regional electricity market provides for significant benefits and cost savings compared to the operation of individual utility systems. Substantial costs savings are achieved in all analyzed periods and under all hydrological conditions.