13. Network Expansion Planning of Multi-carrier Energy Systems

Traditional network expansion planning (NEP) relies on treating energy sources, such as electricity, natural gas, and oil, as independent problems. The new solutions to overcome the traditional planning problem is to optimize and integrate energy sources and demands in a joint framework for an efficient generation, storage, and consumption. New techniques and tools for NEP of multi-carrier energy systems are developed. This chapter aims at providing a detailed study of integrating electricity, natural gas, and heat systems, in which the main objective is their network expansion together. The main equations associated with the NEP of multi-carrier energy systems in terms of a mathematical model as a multistage optimization problem are defined. The objective function is to minimize all network expansion costs subject to the technical and nontechnical constraints. Finally, the solution method to solve the multistage NEP of multi-carrier energy systems is explained.