Utilization of Flexibility Mechanisms in Regional Outage Planning of Transmission Systems

Energy transition challenges the methods used in the operational planning of transmission systems and increases the need for more extensive and coordinated use of flexibility mechanisms. This paper presents how different types of flexibility mechanisms can be utilized in the outage planning of transmission systems to mitigate the impacts of N–1 contingency condition during a planned outage and to reduce the need for preventive curtailment. The flexibility mechanisms presented in this paper focus on solving regional and local grid congestions caused by thermal overloading of grid components after a contingency. The analyzed flexibility mechanisms can be divided into two categories: technical and market-based flexibility mechanisms. Factors affecting the feasibility of the analyzed flexibility mechanisms are identified in this paper. The paper discusses how different types of flexibility mechanisms can be combined to solve regional grid congestions considering the short- and long-term thermal ratings of grid components as an enabler of market-based flexibility.