This thesis studies the operating characteristics of lead acid batteries with the intermittent discharging current. Rest time is added periodically on purpose during the battery discharging to observe its impact on the releasable capacity. From the experimental results that take the frequency and the duty-ratio as two variables, batteries with the intermittent discharging at high frequencies or low duty ratios can release more capacity. The results also indicate that the depth of discharge (DOD) affects the intermittent discharging. More capacity is released while approaching the end of the discharging, whereas no clear difference is found in the beginning. Last but not least, the average current is proved experimentally to play a significant role in current discharging. With the same average current, the maximum capacity obtained from the intermittent current discharging is close to that from the constant current discharging.

This thesis proposes an enhanced ampere-hour counting method based on the depth-of-discharge (DOD) to estimate the state-of-charge (SOC) and state-of-health (SOH) for lead-acid batteries. Not only the losses at different discharging currents, but also the releasable capacity at the exhausted state caused by the larger discharging current are considered and compensated. Furthermore, the SOH is revaluated at the exhausted state by the maximum releasable capacity, consequently leading to more accurate SOC estimation. Through the experiments that emulate practical operations, the experimental results reveal that the maximum error is less than 6 %.

[pt] O planejamento da expansão da transmissão (PET) visa identificar novos reforços para a rede, permitindo uma conexão tecnicamente adequada entre demanda e geração de energia elétrica, ambas previstas para um determinado horizonte de planejamento. Um bom plano de expansão deve garantir o equilíbrio entre os custos de investimento e operação, mantendo um nível satisfatório de segurança no fornecimento de energia elétrica. Entretanto, a identificação de bons planos de expansão para o PET tem se tornado uma tarefa cada vez mais difícil. Isso se deve, principalmente, às características e dimensões dos sistemas atuais, a não linearidade e natureza combinatória do problema de otimização e às incertezas presentes nos dados. Os erros de previsão, a indisponibilidade de equipamentos e a disponibilidade dos recursos naturais são parâmetros que variam de forma aleatória e inserem um alto grau de incerteza nos sistemas elétricos, o qual aumenta proporcionalmente com o horizonte de planejamento. Uma das incertezas mais relevantes a ser gerenciada nas próximas décadas será a capacidade de geração oriunda de fontes renováveis, em particular as eólicas, devido à sua grande variabilidade. A utilização de dispositivos de armazenamento permitirá melhor aproveitamento dessas fontes e, portanto, torna-se necessário o desenvolvimento de ferramentas computacionais capazes de considerar tais dispositivos no problema PET. Esta dissertação apresenta uma nova metodologia de apoio ao problema PET inserindo armazenadores de energia elétrica para aumentar o aproveitamento de fontes renováveis no sistema. Isso, respeitando as restrições de segurança da rede, acompanhando à curva de demanda e levando em consideração as variáveis operativas destes dispositivos. A possibilidade de incluir sistemas de armazenamento de energia elétrica é avaliada através de uma análise custo-benefício. A metodologia proposta é aplicada a um sistema teste, submetido a diversas condições operativas, e os resultados obtidos são amplamente discutidos. / [en] The transmission expansion planning (TEP) aims at identifying new reinforcements for the network, allowing a technically adequate connection between demand and generation of electric energy, both foreseen for a given planning horizon. A good expansion plan must ensure a balance between investment and operating costs, while maintaining a satisfactory level of security of the electric energy supply. However, identifying good expansion plans for TEP has become an increasingly difficult task. This is mainly due to the characteristics and dimensions of the current systems, the nonlinearity and combinatorial nature of the optimization problem, and the uncertainties present in the data. Forecasting errors, equipment unavailability, and the availability of natural resources are parameters that vary in a random way and insert a high degree of uncertainty in the electrical system, which proportionally increases with the planning horizon. One of the most relevant uncertainties to be managed in the upcoming decades will be the generation capacity from renewable sources, particularly wind power, due to its great variability. Storage devices will allow better use of these sources and, therefore, it becomes necessary to develop computational tools capable of considering such devices in the TEP problem. This dissertation presents a new methodology to support the TEP problem by inserting electric energy storage to increase the use of renewable energy in the system, while respecting the security restrictions of the network, following the demand curve and taking into account the operational variables of these devices. The possibility of including electric energy storage systems is evaluated through a costbenefit analysis. The proposed methodology is applied to a test system, subject to various operating conditions, and the obtained results are widely discussed.