Integrated planning of natural gas and electricity distribution networks with the presence of distributed natural gas fired generators

A sequential recourse stochastic optimization approach to solving the long-term integrated planning problem of a Natural Gas (NG) distribution system and Natural Gas-fired Distributed Generators (NGDGs) is presented. The NGDG location and sizing problem under uncertain demand is solved in the first stage. The computed location and size of NGDG is employed to compute the NG demand at each node. The deterministic mixed integer non-linear programming NG optimal pipeline route selection problem is solved in the second stage. The solution methodology is illustrated using a simple case study over a long term planning period of 20 years. This work extends previous heuristic based approaches dependent on consideration of limited candidate solutions by employing a two stage recourse stochastic optimization technique and an analytical solution technique for solving the integrated problem. The proposed model allows for planning the future integration of NGDG and NG-pipelines without having to populate a set of expansion options.