Recent Developments in Security-Constrained AC Optimal Power Flow: Overview of Challenge 1 in the ARPA-E Grid Optimization Competition

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advances in solving the security-constrained AC optimal power flow problem, highlighting the competition organized by ARPA-E to evaluate and stimulate innovation in solution algorithms.

Contribution

It provides an overview of the SC-AC-OPF problem formulation, summarizes historical developments, and analyzes the algorithms used by top teams in the ARPA-E Grid Optimization Challenge 1.

Findings

Top algorithms achieved significant improvements in solution speed and accuracy.

The competition fostered innovative approaches to complex power flow problems.

Insights into algorithm strengths and weaknesses for practical power grid optimization.

Abstract

The optimal power flow problem is central to many tasks in the design and operation of electric power grids. This problem seeks the minimum cost operating point for an electric power grid while satisfying both engineering requirements and physical laws describing how power flows through the electric network. By additionally considering the possibility of component failures and using an accurate AC power flow model of the electric network, the security-constrained AC optimal power flow (SC-AC-OPF) problem is of paramount practical relevance. To assess recent progress in solution algorithms for SC-AC-OPF problems and spur new innovations, the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency--Energy (ARPA-E) organized Challenge 1 of the Grid Optimization (GO) competition. This paper describes the SC-AC-OPF problem formulation used in the competition, overviews historical developments and the state of the art in SC-AC-OPF algorithms, discusses the competition, and summarizes the algorithms used by the top three teams in Challenge 1 of the GO Competition (Teams gollnlp, GO-SNIP, and GMI-GO).