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Abstract
Electric power transmission lines are a critical interconnection component of the power system. With the increasing demand for electric power and push for increased renewable generation, transmission lines are now operating close to their nominal ratings. This makes the grid increasingly vulnerable to service interruptions and blackouts. Given practical limitations posed on infrastructure upgrading, the optimized use of the existing delivery network is then of great importance. This thesis presents an approach to develop transmission line models that are able to account for: (i) available wind speed information, and (ii) changes in wind speed along the line length. Specifically, the line per unit length resistance is updated based on wind speed information, and the line model structure is determined based on the given wind speed variation along the line. A multi-segment lumped parameter line model structure is used to account for these longitudinal non-uniformities in line resistance due to the changes in wind speed along the length of the line. The proposed approach then uses the wind speed-dependent line models to determine power handling capabilities when the line is subjected to different wind speeds and wind profiles. Various case studies are presented to evaluate models’ effectiveness and to show the influence of wind speed, and therefore of conductor temperature, on line maximum power transfer. Quantifiable differences between line models that do not take into account wind speed and the models that do are noted. Moreover, the resulting voltage stability boundaries are compared to the line thermal ratings to determine the most limiting factor.