Fast evaluation of available transfer capability using cubic-spline interpolation technique

This paper presents a new computationally fast and accurate method for evaluating available transfer capability (ATC) based on a curve fitting technique so-called as the cubic-spline interpolation technique. The advantage of the technique used in the computation of ATC is that it has the ability to reduce the time consuming ac power flow computations. The cubic-spline interpolation technique traces the curves of voltage magnitude and power flow variations with respect to the increase of real power transfer. ATC is then determined at the point where the voltage or power flow limits intersect the curves. Prior to the ATC evaluation, contingency ranking and selection techniques are used to define the critical lines in a system that can adversely affect the transfer capability assessment. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by illustrating the ATC evaluation on a practical test system. ATC results obtained from the proposed cubic-spline interpolation technique prove that the method is satisfactorily accurate and it is faster than the ATC method using the recursive ac power flow computations.