Title: Network Topology Optimization
Speaker:
Kory Hedman, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
Date/Time: Thursday, December 16, 2010, 10:00 am
Location: CSRI Building/Room 90 (Sandia NM)
Brief Abstract: The physics that govern the flow of electric energy across the electric transmission network create a complex and unique network flow problem. Similar to Braess' Paradox, adding more transmission capacity (transmission lines) to this network flow problem does not necessarily improve the system efficiency. The flow of electricity across the network follows Kirchhoff's laws. These unique laws imply that changing a transmission asset's impedance changes how the power flows throughout the meshed transmission network. These factors, along with the complex operating and reliability constraints, create a very difficult network flow problem. However, the mathematical modeling of the network is not as complex as it could be and various control mechanisms have yet to be acknowledged as well as harnessed within the traditional optimization formulations.
Traditionally, transmission assets are treated as static assets within these optimization problems. However, it is well known that transmission switching, i.e., taking a line temporarily out of service, can be beneficial to system operations and system reliability. This presentation will review the concept of smart switching, which suggests that the network flow problem for electric transmission networks should model the status of a transmission line as a controllable, binary variable in order to co-optimize the generation dispatch with the network topology. This presentation will also present current open research problems in the area of network topology optimization.
BIO: Kory W. Hedman received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering and the B.S. degree in economics from the University of Washington, Seattle, in 2004 and the M.S. degree in economics and the M.S. degree in electrical engineering from Iowa State University, Ames, in 2006 and 2007, respectively. He received the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in industrial engineering and operations research from the University of California, Berkeley in 2007 and 2010 respectively. Currently, he is an assistant professor in the school of electrical, computer, and energy engineering at Arizona State University. He previously worked for the California ISO (CAISO), Folsom, CA, on transmission planning and he has worked with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Washington, DC, on transmission switching.
CSRI POC: Jean-Paul Watson, 505-845-8887 |