Economic analysis of Iran-Turkey power network interconnection: HVDC vs. HVAC

Regarding advantages of power trade between countries, a question emerges that by which kind of transmission lines this trade will be more efficient. Our previous studies on development of Iran power export, based on a short-run optimal model, showed that Iran power export capacity to Turkey during the base year can be increased up to 1000 MW. Moreover, optimization based on a long-run model showed that due to different investment costs for capacity expansion in the two countries, the optimal export increase will be of 12% annual growth rate. In this paper, an analysis of Iran-Turkey power network interconnection method is performed. Comparison between HVAC and HVDC transmission lines of 1000 MW capacity shows that the HVDC project will increase the total costs and from the economic point of view is infeasible. In addition, it should be noted that technically, the HVDC project satisfies the prerequisites and conditions of a connection line between the two power networks. Therefore, AC project that has already been agreed upon can be selected as the cost-effective solution.