A Hub-and-Spoke approach to Optimizing Energy Wheeling of Renewable Resources

The deployment of zero-carbon renewable energy sources is mandated by the US Department of Energy (US DOE) to increase significantly to support the goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This paper proposes a deterministic approach to how networked (interconnected grid) points of receipt to points of delivery can be optimized for wheeling zero- or low-carbon renewable energy resources to high-demand destination load centers while minimizing energy cost with a hub-and-spoke approach. A hub-and-spoke approach routes “traffic” through a central point. The aapproach was set up as a mixed integer approach in which the cost of transporting energy was minimized. This paper leverages the concepts of a hub-and-spoke transportation model with daily energy market clearing prices, available transmission capacity, and firm daily transmission prices in open-access energy markets to define the most cost-effective route to deliver energy to an applicable load center.