1616 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 20, NO.

3, AUGUST 2005

Transmission System Expansion Planning

Using a Sigmoid Function to Handle Integer
Investment Variables
Edimar José de Oliveira, Ivo Chaves da Silva, Jr., José Luiz Rezende Pereira, Member, IEEE, and
Sandoval Carneiro, Jr., Senior Member, IEEE

Abstract—This paper presents an optimum power flow (OPF)
modeling algorithm that uses the primal–dual interior point tech-
nique to determine the best investment strategy in the transmis-
sion line expansion problem. In the proposed method, the expan-
sion decision (0 or 1) is mitigated by using a sigmoid function,
which is incorporated in the OPF problem through the modified
dc power flow equations. The investment decision is taken using
a new heuristic model based on good sensitivity produced by the
OPF results. Additionally, the transmission power losses are con-
sidered in the network model. The proposed methodology has been
compared with methods available in the literature, using both a test
system and an equivalent of the southeastern Brazilian system.
Index Terms—Heuristic algorithm, interior point method, sig-
moid function, transmission network losses, transmission system
expansion.
I. INTRODUCTION
find good quality solutions but can take a huge amount of CPU
time, depending on system size and the number of parameters.
The heuristic-based methods are numerically robust, easy to
implement, and require relatively low computational effort.
However, the optimum global solution point is rarely obtained.
This paper presents a heuristic approach that is based on two
main strategies: 1) the integer variables are represented by con-
tinuous functions in the optimum power flow (OPF) formula-
tion, and 2) the dc power flow equations are modified to accom-
modate both the candidate transmission lines to expansion and
the system power losses.
The use of the primal–dual interior point optimization tech-
nique [16]–[18] allows the representation of the nonlinearities
in the OPF problem. The proposed incorporation of both the
transmission power losses and the sigmoid function in the TSEP
stems from the possibility of introducing the nonlinearities in

T HE transmission system expansion problem (TSEP) con-

sists of determining among the transmission lines candi-
dates to expansion the ones to be constructed in order to mini-
the adopted OPF formulation. The investment decision is taken
using a new heuristic model based on the sensitivity given by
sigmoid function values. The results obtained show the advan-
mize the operation and investment costs in such a way that the tages of the proposed methodology.
forecasted demand is supplied in a given planning horizon [1].
The TSEP is a very complex process that deals with contin- II. MODIFIED DC POWER FLOW EQUATIONS
uous and integer variables and is classified as a nonlinear integer
Traditionally, the TSEP is modeled using the linear dc power
mixed programming problem [1], [2] that is difficult to solve, es-
flow formulation technique, in which the voltage and stability
pecially for large-scale power systems.
constraints are represented via branch active power flow limits
The main related difficulties are 1) the problem has a huge
[2]. In this approach, the active power flow ( ) in a given line
number of solutions and, as a consequence, can converge to
- is expressed by
a local optimum point, and 2) the combinatorial nature of the
problem can lead to a large number of investment alternatives, (1)
making the problem computationally either unfeasible or very
time consuming. where is the susceptance of branch - , and is the angular
Three groups of algorithms have been proposed in the difference between busbars - .
literature to solve the TSEP: 1) the mathematical decom- The inclusion of the power losses in the dc model requires an
position-based methods [3]–[6], 2) the combinatorial-based additional term in (1), as shown in the Appendix
algorithms [7]–[11], and 3) the heuristic-based methods
[12]–[15]. The algorithms classified under 1) are not suitable (2)
for large-scale power systems applications. Methods in 2) can
where is the conductance of branch - , and is the set of
Manuscript received August 13, 2004; revised January 13, 2005. Paper no. existing branches of the network.
TPWRS-00442-2004. The decision of whether or not to include a candidate trans-
E. J. de Oliveira and J. L. R. Pereira are with Electrical Engineering Depart-
ment, Federal University at Juiz de Fora—UFJF, Juiz de Fora 36015-400, Brazil
mission line to be constructed requires the modification of (2)
(e-mail: edimar@lacee.ufjf.br; jluiz@ieee.org). leading to (3)
I. C. da Silva, Jr. and S. Carneiro, Jr. are with COPPE/UFRJ—Federal
University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 21945-970, Brazil (e-mail:
ivoj@terra.com.br; sandoval@dee.ufrj.br). (3)
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPWRS.2005.852065

0885-8950/$20.00 © 2005 IEEE

DE OLIVEIRA et al.: TSEP USING A SIGMOID FUNCTION TO HANDLE INTEGER INVESTMENT VARIABLES 1617

where is the expansion decision function given by (4), and

is the set of transmission lines that are candidates to expansion

(4)

where is the sigmoid slope (adopted ).

The authors have tested a wide variety of sigmoid functions
by varying the parameter and have observed from the results
that represents a good compromise between convergence
and quality of the results. To illustrate the above mentioned, if
is very high, then the OPF may not converge because the sig-
moid function derivative becomes very high. On the other hand,
if is too low, the sigmoid function losses the step function
characteristic; as a consequence, the quality of the OPF results
can be affected.
The argument of the expansion decision function
ranges from 0 to 20, as shown in Fig. 1. The upper-bound Fig. 1. Expansion decision function.
argument of the sigmoid function can be any number that
makes as close as possible to 1. Sigmoid functions are
minimum limit of ;
commonly applied in algorithms involving neural networks
maximum limit of ;
[19].
forecasted demand at busbar . The demand not sup-
The introduction of (4) to describe the decision variable al-
plied (load shedding), is represented by fictitious gen-
lows the use of continuous OPF approaches [16]–[18]. It will be
eration units, with operation costs equal to the deficit
seen in Section V that good sensitivity for the proposed heuristic
costs [23];
method is attained with this function.
active power flow of branch - . Existing branches
The following additional criteria have been adopted: 1) for
are given by (2). Candidate transmission lines are
the transmission lines that are candidates to expansion, then
given by (3);
—this allows the expansion decision variable
active power flow limit of transmission line - .
to assume continuous values in the interval [0,1]; 2) if a trans-
The first term of the objective function (5) represents the op-
mission line is selected, using the proposed heuristic method, in
erational costs of the generation plants, and the second term rep-
the expansion process, then —thus, ;
resents the power system investment costs. Equation (5.1) cor-
and 3) finally, , for nonselected transmis-
respond to the expressions of the dc power flow.
sion lines, which leads to a value of . For the interval
The constraints (5.2) are related to active power flow limits on
, the behavior of is identical to the
the transmission lines. The expressions (5.3) and (5.4) represent
interval described in 1), as seen in Fig. 1.
the lower and upper limits of the optimization variables.
In the proposed model, all of the transmission lines that are
III. PROPOSED OPF FORMULATION candidates to expansion are included in the network structure
The OPF problem in the TSEP can be formulated as during the OPF solution process. As a consequence, the overall
computing time is reduced, because there is no need to reorder
the Hessian matrix.
(5)
IV. PROPOSED TSEP ALGORITHM
subject to The proposed algorithm is solved in three stages: 1) contin-
uous task, 2) heuristic task, and 3) elimination task. The corre-
(5.1)
sponding flow chart is presented in Fig. 2 and explained next.
The OPF for the existing network considers all transmission
(5.2) lines that are candidates to expansion opened, that is, the cor-
(5.3) responding power flow functions (3) have . If the load
(5.4) shedding (LSHD) value is greater than a given tolerance (
MW) [21], then the expansion planning process will continue;
where otherwise, the initial expansion planning is going to be analyzed
number of generation units; in the elimination task.
operation cost of generation unit (US$/MW/year); In the continuous task, the OPF is executed considering the
expansion cost of the transmission line - function ED continuous for all the candidate transmission lines.
(US$/year); In this case, the LSHD is eliminated.
argument of the sigmoid function; The heuristic task selects, among the transmission lines that
generation unit at busbar ; are candidates to expansion, the one that has the greatest power
1618 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 20, NO. 3, AUGUST 2005

TABLE I
GARVER SYSTEM : BUSBAR DATA

TABLE II
CANDIDATE TRANSMISSION LINES

Fig. 2. Proposed TSEP algorithm.

flow calculated by (3). Once this transmission line is chosen,

its corresponding function ED is made equal to one, for the re-
mainder of the expansion process. Additionally in this task, a
new OPF is executed considering the selected line closed (ED
), and for the remaining candidates, the corresponding values
of ED are considered zero. In other words, this OPF will check
whether the previous transmission line expansion is enough or
not to eliminate the load shedding.
The elimination task is executed when load shedding is com-
pletely eliminated. As a result, an initial list of transmission lines
to be expanded is produced. Then, the elimination task is car-
ried out [15], as follows: 1) the previous list is ordered in the
descending order of the transmission line costs, and 2) the more
expensive transmission lines are eliminated from the initial ex-
pansion planning, providing that load shedding does not occur.
Then, the final expansion planning is obtained.

TABLE III
V. RESULTS EXPANSION RESULTS—LOSSES NEGLECTED

The proposed methodology has been applied to several sys-

tems with good results. Two such systems have been chosen to
illustrate the performance of the method as compared to other
approaches: the Garver system [12] and an equivalent of the
southeastern Brazilian system [11]. For each system, the expan-
sion planning was obtained both neglecting and considering the
transmission losses. The results were compared with existing
methodologies in the literature.

A. Garver System
This system has six busbars, six existing branches in the base
network,and 15 candidate transmission line paths, with the re-
striction that at most three parallel transmission lines per path
are allowed. Table I shows, for each busbar, the demand ( ), the
generation capacity ( ), and the generation cost .
The data for the transmission lines that are candidates to ex-
pansion are shown in Table II.
The first simulation was carried out neglecting the losses in
the transmission system. Table III shows the results obtained
with the proposed algorithm, as well as with existing algorithms
in the literature [9], [12]–[15]. Reference [9] used the genetic
algorithm approach. References [12]–[15] are based on heuristic
DE OLIVEIRA et al.: TSEP USING A SIGMOID FUNCTION TO HANDLE INTEGER INVESTMENT VARIABLES
TABLE IV
EXPANSION RESULTS CONSIDERING THE LOSSES
TABLE V
TSEP RESULTS: SE BRAZILIAN SYSTEM—LOSSES NEGLECTED
algorithms. It is seen that the proposed method has given the
same result as the genetic algorithm [9].
The second simulation was carried out considering the trans-
mission losses, which corresponds to a more realistic condition.
Table IV shows the transmission planning obtained both with
the proposed approach and with a recent one [22].
It is seen that the TSEP algorithm has replaced the construc-
tion of one of the transmission lines in path 2–6 with a line in
path 2–3, thus reducing the total cost to US$ 130 million. Addi-
tionally, it should be stressed that the TSEP algorithm requires
less OPF simulations because it does not require integer pro-
gramming techniques such as in [22].
B. Southeastern Brazilian System
This system has 79 busbars, 155 existing branches in the base
network, and 143 candidate transmission line paths, with the
restriction that at most three parallel transmission lines per path
are allowed. The total forecasted demand is 38 GW [11], [21].
Table V shows the final set of transmission lines to be con-
structed, neglecting the active losses. The total investment cost
is US$ 457.9 million.
Table VI shows a comparison of the results obtained with the
algorithms presented in [11] and [21]. It is seen that consider-
1619
TABLE VI
RESULTS FROM [11] AND [12]: SE BRAZILIAN SYSTEM—LOSSES NEGLECTED
TABLE VII
TSEP RESULTS: SE BRAZILIAN SYSTEM—WITH LOSSES
able savings in investment would be obtained using the proposed
methodology.
The expansion planning considering the transmission losses
was carried out under the following conditions: 1) the value of
transmission line resistance was taken as 10% of the value of the
corresponding reactance, and 2) redispatch was allowed, and the
generation limits were increased to accommodate the transmis-
sion losses. For this case study, the increase of 5% was enough
to achieve OPF convergence.
Table VII shows the selected lines to be constructed. The final
transmission expansion planning cost is US$ 506.73 million.
Results with losses from other references are not available at
the time of writing; thus, no comparisons could be made. How-
ever, the importance of considering transmission losses in the
expansion procedure can be appreciated, comparing the results
shown in Tables V and VII. It is seen that the expansion plan-
ning has changed considerably and the total investment cost has
increased, when the losses have been considered.
VI. CONCLUSION
This paper has presented a new technique for transmission
system expansion planning. From the results obtained, the fol-
lowing aspects can be emphasized.
• The investment cost has been considerably reduced in
all but one test case, when the proposed methodology
was applied and the results were compared with existing
algorithms.
• The incorporation of the sigmoid function in the OPF
algorithm, in association with the proposed heuristic al-
gorithm, as decision criteria, has provided very effective
results.
1620
• The OPF technique adopted has allowed the treatment
of nonlinearities introduced by the expansion planning
model.
• The results obtained for the SE Brazilian system have
shown the importance of the transmission losses in the
expansion problem. It has been shown that neglecting
the losses can lead to substantial underestimation of the
real investment costs.
• The use of system equivalents is a common practice,
in most existing algorithms, to reduce CPU time. The
proposed technique allows the use of real-size topology
systems.
APPENDIX
The active power flow through a transmission line - can be
written as
The power losses are given by
Assuming and
, the active power flow equations can now be written
as
The power losses equation can now be written as
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Edimar José de Oliveira received the B.Sc. degree in 1984 from the Federal
University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF), Juiz de Fora, Brazil, the M.Sc. degree in 1993
from the Federal University of Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Brazil, and the D.Sc.
degree in 1998 from the Federal University of Itajubá, Itajubá, MG, Brazil.
Since 1989, he has been a Professor of Electrical Engineering with UFJF.
His main interests are in stability analysis, power economics, optimization, and
control of electrical power systems.
Ivo Chaves da Silva, Jr. received the B.Sc. degree in 2001 and the M.Sc. degree
in 2003 from the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF), Juiz de Fora, Brazil.
His research interests include power system optimization and control of elec-
trical power systems.
DE OLIVEIRA et al.: TSEP USING A SIGMOID FUNCTION TO HANDLE INTEGER INVESTMENT VARIABLES
José Luiz Rezende Pereira (M’85) received the B.Sc. degree in 1975 from the
Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Brazil, the M.Sc. degree in 1978
from COPPE—Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and
the Ph.D. degree in 1988 from the University of Manchester, Manchester, U.K.
From 1977 to 1992, he was with the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
Since 1993, he has been with the Electrical Engineering Department of the Fed-
eral University of Juiz de Fora. His research interests include online security,
optimization, and control of electrical power systems.
1621
Sandoval Carneiro, Jr. (SM’78) was born in Brazil in 1945. He received
the Electrical Engineer degree from the Catholic University of São Paulo,
São Paulo, Brazil, in 1968, the M.Sc. degree from the Graduate School of
Engineering (COPPE)/Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, in 1971, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the
University of Nottingham, Nottingham, U.K., in 1976.
Since 1971, he has been a Lecturer with the Federal University of Rio de
Janeiro and, in 1993, was promoted to Full Professor. From 1978 to 1979, he was
Deputy-Director and, from 1982 to 1985, Director of COPPE/UFRJ. From 1987
to 1988 and in 1994, he was a Visiting Professor with the Department of Elec-
trical Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
From October 1991 to June 1992, he was General Director of CAPES—Min-
istry of Education Agency for Academic Improvement. His research interests
comprise simulation of electromagnetic transients on power systems, distribu-
tion system analysis, and engineering education.
Dr. Carneiro, Jr. has been the Chairman of the IEEE PES Distribution Systems
Analysis Subcommittee since January 2002.