Unlocking Virtual Transmission Capacity with Grid-Enhancing Technologies
Conference
Alamin, MT, Paudyal, S. (2026). Unlocking Virtual Transmission Capacity with Grid-Enhancing Technologies
. IEEE Power and Energy Conference at Illinois Peci, 2026-April(2026), 10.1109/PECI70026.2026.11516409
Alamin, MT, Paudyal, S. (2026). Unlocking Virtual Transmission Capacity with Grid-Enhancing Technologies
. IEEE Power and Energy Conference at Illinois Peci, 2026-April(2026), 10.1109/PECI70026.2026.11516409
Transmission congestion is becoming a major barrier to renewable energy integration. Variable generation is putting more stress on the existing grid. At the same time, expanding the network is difficult due to high costs and permitting delays. In this context, this paper proposes coordinated utilization of three grid-enhancing technologies, i.e., dynamic line rating (DLR), optimal transmission switching (OTS), and battery energy storage systems (BESS) as an alternative to expansion planning. To ensure computational tractability due to large search space in optimization problem, a multi-stage candidate screening method is introduced to restrict binary switching decisions to a reduced set of high-impact tranmission lines. Weather-dependent thermal limits are derived using a steady-state heat balance model compliant with IEEE Std. 738-2023. The proposed formulation is evaluated on a modified RTS-GMLC test system. Results show that coordinated deployment of DLR, OTS, and VTL-based BESS reduces total operational costs about 16% and eliminates all thermal congestion, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed framework for enhancing transmission utilization.
