Unconventional High Surge Impedance Loading Transmission Line

To achieve net-zero emission in America by 2050, high voltage transmission capacity must expand ~60% by 2030 and triple by 2050 to connect further wind and solar facilities to demand. This expansion requires a capital investment in transmission capacity of $360 billion by 2030 and $2.4 trillion by 2050. We will fail to achieve a net-zero America by 2050 unless high-capacity overhead lines are developed.

To tackle this problem, we will (i) develop a revolutionary and flexible design for transmission lines by shifting phase configurations and sub-conductors into unconventional arrangements that are geometrically optimized within the space, enabling a given high surge impedance loading (HSIL) design, and (ii) create and introduce a novel transmission expansion planning (TEP) framework, where, given the possibility provided in (i), line parameters that do not play a role in traditional TEP will now play key roles as variables in this new framework. This will lead to cost-effective planning scenarios and huge savings that cannot be achieved through conventional transmission lines.

By combining (i) and (ii), this research plan introduces a new concept that we call Smart TEP-based Unconventional HSIL Line Designs that will revolutionize power delivery. The integrated education plan train the next generation of power engineers needed to maintain the competitive vitality of the U.S. workforce. We also collaborate with the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity at Virginia Tech on K-12 outreach activities designed to attract women and ethnic minorities to the field of electrical engineering.

The proposed research pioneers power transmission loadability enhancement at the nexus of TEP and unconventional HSIL line design. The original and potentially transformative idea of engaging unconventional HSIL line designs that address TEP requirements is the cornerstone of this project. Where conventional transmission lines fail due to insufficiencies in their self-reactive power compensation, unconventional HSIL designs can (1) significantly increase power transmission loadability, (2) be creatively used for extra-high voltage, high voltage, and medium voltage levels for both transmission and distribution networks, and (3) decrease the need for lumped reactive power compensators.

On the line design side, a very complex optimization problem will be solved to determine the optimal size, number, and location of sub-conductors in the space. Another aspect is that TEP itself has always been a complex optimization problem. In this research plan, we will complicate it further by making the line parameters that were fixed and predetermined in traditional TEP now be variables.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.