Optimal Operation of Natural Gas and Reconfigurable Electricity Networks in presence of Connected Energy Hubs

Natural gas plays a significant role in energy supply prospects around the world. For example, the share of natural gas in the United States energy consumption has increased from 21% by 1980 to 27% by 2012, and it is anticipated that by 2040, over 35% of total energy production in this country provided by natural gas. Fluctuations in the natural gas consumption pattern could negatively affect the gas flow in the pipelines and pressure in different gas nodes, which may endanger the safety of the natural gas network. This could also put the safe operation of gas-fired units and ultimately the reliability of power grid at risk. Furthermore, providing a flexible configuration can offer multiple benefits to utility and consumers, such as power loss and operation cost minimization, as well as reliability improvement. The hourly optimal topology is accessible by opening and closing tie-switches through the reconfiguration process. Such actions can change the dispatch portfolio of gas-fired units, and the gas flow accordingly. In addition to the complexity of scheduling multi-carrier energy system, the optimal operation of coordinated electrical and natural gas networks involves uncertainty associated with renewable energy power output, load demand and energy prices. In this PhD project, a focus is given to optimal operation and expansion planning of integrated power and gas networks considering interconnected energy hubs and strong uncertainties involved at operating phase.