Transmission Expansion Planning Including TCSCs and SFCLs: A MINLP Approach

We propose a transmission expansion planning model that integrates thyristor-controlled series compensators (TCSCs) to enhance line transmission capacity, and superconducting fault current limiters (SFCLs) to control short-circuit levels. The harmonious interplay between TCSCs and SFCLs results in effective and economically attractive optimal expansion plans. This multi-stage planning model translates into a complex mixed-integer nonlinear programming problem, which is hard to solve. To solve it, we propose a successive linearization technique within a Benders' decomposition scheme that proves effective in finding optimal solutions and efficient in terms of computational burden. We illustrate the methodology proposed using the IEEE 39-bus system.