Dispatch-aware deep neural network for optimal transmission switching

Abstract

Optimal transmission switching (OTS) improves optimal power flow (OPF) by selectively opening transmission lines, but its mixed-integer formulation increases computational complexity, especially on large grids. To address this, we propose a dispatch-aware deep neural network (DA-DNN) that accelerates DC-OTS without relying on pre-solved labels, eliminating costly OTS label generation that becomes impractical at scale. DA-DNN predicts line states and passes them through an embedded differentiable DC-OPF layer, using the resulting generation cost as the loss function so that physical network constraints are enforced throughout training and inference. To stabilize training, we adopt a customized weight and bias initialization that keeps the embedded DC-OPF feasible from the first epoch. To improve inference robustness, we incorporate a binary regularization term that reduces ambiguity in the relaxed line-status outputs prior to thresholding. Once trained, DA-DNN produces a feasible topology and dispatch pair with highly predictable computation time comparable to a single DC-OPF solve, while conventional MIP solvers can become intractable. Moreover, the embedded OPF layer enables DA-DNN to generalize to untrained system configurations, such as changes in line flow limits, and to support post-contingency corrective operation. As a result, the proposed method captures the economic advantages of OTS while maintaining scalability and generalization ability.