Evaluation of optimum capacity and location of east west interconnector using tie line planning approach

Bangladesh is physically divided into two parts, Eastern and Western, by the combined flow of Jamuna-Meghna river system. Because of the availability of natural gas in Eastern part, most of the generating plants of the country are installed here. Therefore, it is important for the utility to search optimum interconnection(s), connecting Eastern and Western parts, for capacity transaction such that minimum production cost is ensured. This paper investigates for an appropriate approach to evaluate the optimum capacity and location of East-West interconnector. The tie line planning approach is applied for the evaluation. The approach considers both peak load and hour load models independently. The results are compared with the simulated results obtained using conventional transmission expansion planning technique.