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The electric power sector is experiencing a rapid shift towards renewable energy resources. To accommodate this transition, the transmission system requires significant upgrades. Although enhancing grid capacity through transmission network expansion is always a solution, it can be very costly and requires a protracted permitting process. Grid-enhancing technologies (GETs) encompass a broad range of hardware and software tools that enable reconfiguration of the transmission grid and adjustment of its parameters. The proliferation of such technologies enhances transfer capability over the current transmission network, thus reducing the need for grid expansion. This paper offers a comprehensive review of grid-enhancing technologies. The paper discusses definitions of transmission flexibility and presents methods that are developed to quantify grid flexibility. The paper offers a comprehensive review of an extensive range of grid-enhancing technologies, including both principles of operation and state-of-the-art developments. Environmental impacts of grid-enhancing technologies, including renewable energy curtailment and carbon emission reduction, are also discussed. In addition to technical aspects of grid enhancing technologies, the paper also reviews the literature on the incentive challenges facing GETs adoption and efficient. Overall, the paper offers a comprehensive review of the advancements in grid-enhancing technologies, discusses the remaining critical challenges, and identifies directions for future research. • Grid-enhancing technologies (GETs) are necessary for the future grid. • GETs can enhance the transfer capability up to 50% over the existing grid. • While some GETs rely on mature technology, industry adoption remains rather limited. • GETs integration within energy management systems faces modeling challenges. • Current market and regulatory structures provide little to no incentive for adoption and efficient operation of GETs. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel successive flow direction enforcing (SFDE) algorithm for solving power system operation models with flexible AC transmission system (FACTS) devices. The power flow control capabilities of FACTS devices can improve the utilization of the existing transmission network. However, the added computational complexity of modeling FACTS devices in power system operation models is one of the primary challenges for FACTS deployment. A prominent component is the nonlinearity introduced by variable-impedance FACTS devices to the linear DC power flow equations. According to previous studies, such nonlinearity can be tackled by preassigning the power flow directions on lines equipped with FACTS to restore the linearity of DC power flow equations. However, this method has the issue of converging to suboptimal solutions in some cases, due to suboptimal flow direction assignment. The algorithm presented in this paper can address the issue of suboptimality, while still achieving computational efficiency improvements. Power system operation models with FACTS are solved iteratively with flow directions enforced, and the predetermined flow directions are adjusted successively based on the results of the previous iteration. Simulation studies confirm the effectiveness of the method in converging to the globally optimal solution within a few iterations in almost all practical cases. • FACTS devices add to the complexity of power system software tools. • An iterative linear algorithm is developed that almost always achieves optimality. • The method is fast and can be integrated within existing energy management systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]