The human factor in transmission network expansion planning: the grid that a sustainable energy system needs

S. Lumbreras, J.D. Gómez, E. F. Álvarez, S. Huclin

Sustainability Vol. 14, nº. 11, pp. 6746-1 - 6746-22

Summary:

The decarbonization of the energy sector puts additional pressure on the transmission network. The main cause for this is that renewable sources are often more abundant in geographical areas far away from the main demand centers, so new transmission lines are required to connect the new renewable energy capacity. In addition, by connecting different geographical zones, the transmission network could smooth the intermittency and the variability of renewable energy production. Thus, the changing energy landscape leads to a need to reinforce the transmission network through the Network Transmission Expansion Planning. Ideally, all the idiosyncrasies of the electricity system are considered in the operation and expansion planning process. However, several critical dimensions of the planning process are routinely ignored since they may introduce parameters that are difficult to quantify and complexity that state-of-the-art planning methods cannot handle. This paper identifies the most relevant elements related to the human factor, which have been grouped around the main topics: the human behind the technical, the human at the institutional level, and the human at the individual level. This paper also provides an additional formulation that can be used to upgrade existing models to include the human element and discusses the implications of these upgrades.

Spanish layman's summary:

Este artículo identifica los elementos más relevantes relacionados con el factor humano en la planificación de la del transporte y proporciona sugerencias de formulación para mejorar los modelos existentes. Se han agrupado en torno a los siguientes temas principales: lo humano detrás de lo técnico, lo humano a nivel institucional y lo humano a nivel individual.

English layman's summary:

This paper identifies the most relevant elements related to the human factor in transmission expansion planning and provides formulation to upgrade state of the art models. They have been grouped around the main topics: the human behind the technical, the human at the institutional level, and the human at the individual level.

 

Keywords: power system expansion planning; power system operation; transmission expansion planning

JCR Impact Factor and WoS quartile: 3,900 - Q2 (2022); 3,300 - Q2 (2023)

DOI reference: https://doi.org/10.3390/su14116746

Published on paper: June 2022.

Published on-line: May 2022.

Citation:
S. Lumbreras, J.D. Gómez, E. F. Álvarez, S. Huclin, The human factor in transmission network expansion planning: the grid that a sustainable energy system needs. Sustainability. Vol. 14, nº. 11, pp. 6746-1 - 6746-22, June 2022. [Online: May 2022]