Effective Congestion Management via Network Topology Optimization Based on Node-Breaker Representations

Network topology optimization (NTO) in power networks expands the range of operational decisions that can contribute to an efficient market and/or system operation. This work focuses on corrective switching actions within the NTO problem to effectively manage congestion in power system networks. Notably, many existing NTO formulations utilize the bus-branch model, which either ignores or approximates a detailed description of substation switching actions, and thus overlooks potential benefits resulting from a realistic picture of all substation configurations. To this end, we develop an innovative corrective switching algorithm utilizing both substation reconfiguration and line switching based on the exact "node-breaker" representations with full nonlinear power flow constraints by employing the sparse tableau formulation and leveraging the piece-wise McCormick relaxation technique. Numerical case studies illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed NTO-based congestion management tool, and provide evidence of its potential to be extended for larger power system networks.