Transmission network expansion planning (TNEP) is a challenging issue especially in new restructured electricity markets environment. TNEP can be incorporated with reactive power planning in which the operating conditions will be satisfied. In this paper a combinatorial mathematical model has been presented to solve transmission expansion and reactive power planning problem (TEPRPP) simultaneously. The proposed model is a non-convex problem having a mixed integer nonlinear nature where the number of candidate solutions to be evaluated increases exponentially according to the system size. The objective function of TEPRPP comprises the new circuits' investment and production costs as well as load curtailment penalty payments. A real genetic algorithm (RGA) aimed to obtaining a significant quality solution to handle such a complicated problem has been employed. An interior point method (IPM) is applied to solve the proposed concurrent optimization problem in the solution steps of TEPRPP model. This paper proposes a new methodology for the best location as well as the capacity of VAr sources; it is tested on two well-known systems; the Garver and IEEE 24-bus systems. The obtained results show the capability and the viability of the proposed TEPRPP model incorporating operating conditions.

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