Transmission Expansion Planning Using Probabilistic Security Constraints for Data Center Load Growth (26-06)

Principal Investigator: Dr. Roy McCann

Transmission Expansion Planning (TEP) is a critical component of power system development, aimed at identifying optimal infrastructure investments to meet future electricity demand while ensuring system reliability and minimizing costs. Traditional TEP methodologies primarily emphasize financial efficiency and resilience against major disturbances. However, these methods often overlook essential stability considerations— particularly in the context of emerging technologies and renewable integration and data center load growth. With the increasing deployment of advanced systems such as inverter-based renewable energy sources (IBRs), stability analysis must become an integral part of transmission planning. To address this gap, the proposed research introduces a novel Resilient Transmission Expansion Planning (RTEP) framework. This approach integrates traditional investment and security constraints with comprehensive stability assessments, ensuring a more robust and future-ready grid design. The RTEP methodology decomposes the master planning problem into four interrelated sub-problems, each targeting a specific aspect of grid resilience and performance. The result is a structured pathway to enhance planning accuracy and operational reliability in future electric power systems.