Coordinated scheme for expansion planning of distribution networks: a bilevel game approach

The expansion planning of a distribution network (DN) is studied separately and independently from the behaviour of the transmission network (TN) as well as other DNs. However, DNs are being converted from passive to active mode by extensively integrating distributed generations (DGs) into them. Hence, an uncoordinated expansion planning may lead to redundant investment cost and suboptimal solutions. Accordingly, the main motivation of this study is to propose a coordinated expansion scheme among distribution companies (DISCOs). In doing so, a novel bilevel game-based framework is presented to coordinate the decisions of DISCOs for distribution expansion planning problem. Primal-dual formulation is used to convert the bilevel problem into a single level one resulting in a discretely-constrained generalised Nash equilibrium problem. The generalised Nash equilibrium problem is further formulated as a mixed-integer linear program using Karush-Kuhn-Tucker conditions. The methodology proposed is applied to the IEEE 24-bus RTS with several 24-bus DNs. The results show that ignoring the action of other DISCOs may lead to the over- or under-investment in DG sector which consequently decreases the DISCOs' profit. The results also show that congestion in transmission lines can considerably affect the strategic decisions of DISCOs on DG investment.