The stochastic approach for conductor selection in transmission line development projects

A stochastic approach is proposed for selecting the overhead line cross-sections that would be optimal taking into account the electricity market conditions. For this purpose, several conductor types with different conductor cross-sections were considered including the High Temperature Low Sag conductor types such as ACCC and ACCR, which are a part of the advanced technology. The total capital costs depending on the technical aspects were estimated as well. The paper proposes a method that minimizes the average value of the annual costs for the construction of a line based on a statistical representation of the electric power prices, the ambient temperature and the electrical current loads in the electrical networks. The use of the Monte-Carlo method and the mentioned statistical data allow the synthesis of a user-friendly algorithm to solve this problem. As an example of the stochastic approach, the 330 kV transmission line was selected. The solution tasks are done in the MATLAB and “SAPR LEP” software.