Allocation of long-term financial transmission rights for transmission expansion

Long-term financial transmission rights (FTRs) could be used to create incentives for small-scale transmission investments. However, these new investments may cause negative externalities on existing FTRs. Therefore the system operator needs a protocol for awarding incremental FTRs for new transmission capacity that maximize investors’ preferences while simultaneously accounting for under-allocation of the existing network capacity by existing FTRs. To preserve revenue adequacy, the system operator calculates a minimum amount of currently unallocated FTRs (or proxy FTRs) that satisfies the power flow constraints in the existing network. The challenge is to define the proxy awards. Hogan proposes to define them as the best use of the current network along the same direction as the incremental FTR awards. This includes allowing positive or negative incremental FTR awards. In this paper we present an implementation through bi-level programming of Hogan’s proposal for allocation of long-term FTRs and apply it to a radial line and one of Hogan’s examples. Our results show that the simultaneous feasibility of the transmission investment depends on factors such as investor and preset proxy preferences, existing FTRs, and transmission capacity in both the existing network and all proposed expansions of it.