Farshad Khalafian - Department of electrical engineering, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran.

Transmission network development is one of the most important parts of the power system, whose task is to determine the optimal configuration for the network based on the load demand on the planning horizon. Expansion of transmission lines is not always cost-effective and other solutions need to be considered, and for this reason, with the growth of demand and lack of energy resources and investment to expand the power system, load-bearing planning has received special attention. In this paper, the role of microgrids as an alternative solution for transmission network development is investigated and a proposed method for modeling microgrids in the capacity market is presented as a solution to the transmission network development planning problem. The results show that the addition of microgrids significantly reduces the cost of transmission network development. In addition, the addition of microgrids will slightly increase the profitability of selling capacity to consumers. These results prove that by continuing to grow the number and capacity of microgrids in each area, it is possible to eventually eliminate the need for transmission network development and reduce the market cost of capacity to zero.

microgrid, capacity market, transmission network development