Identification of transmission bottlenecks before and after large scale renewable energy integration in Taiwan

Renewable power has been growing fast in Taiwan over the recent years. Owing to the inherent variability from renewable energy, integration of such generation into the grid brings a huge challenge to short-term system operation and long-term grid planning. Compared with traditional thermal power plants, renewable power output has random and fluctuant characteristics. Additionally, the existing power grids would have insufficient capacity to transfer those additional renewable energies, which increases the risk of the overload of the transmission lines. Transmission congestion would increase system operation cost and waste nature resources. Therefore, it is significant to identify transmission bottlenecks after large scale renewable energy integration in advance. This study examines the current transmission bottlenecks and investigates future potential congested transmission lines after large scale renewable energy integration in Taiwan, which presents a significant reference on the network reinforcement, FACTS control, or unit rescheduling.