Opening a larger window on network flows to enhance the cross border capacity allocation in bulk interconnected systems

Abstract

Based on the analysis of the recent huge blackouts that stroke some countries in the European systems, the authors of the paper emphasize as a right knowledge of the actual cross border transmission capacities (CBTCs) is becoming of primary importance in order to obtain a secure operation of the whole system, independently from the method adopted in its allocation. Among the different methods proposed for the CBTCs allocation the behavior of the so called coordinated auctioning (CA) has been simulated in an automatic procedure applied to the analysis of the UCTE system with reference to scenarios of the years 2005 and 2010. The adopted simulator allows the supervision of the network flows not only in each interconnection line, but also in the first ones living the borders to enter in the national networks. Opening a larger window on the network flows, the simulator is able to put in evidence the role played in the CBTC allocation by the presence of internal bottlenecks. Examples are given showing as limiting the control to the Net Transmission Capacity (NTC) published by each Transmission System Operator (TSO) or extending the supervision only to the lines of the interconnection corridors is not enough to attain the most suitable information for a secure and economic CBTC allocation.