Improvements to benders' decomposition. A practical evaluation using a transmission expansion planning problem

Since Benders decomposition was first proposed fifty years ago, many improvement techniques have been developed to accelerate its performance. This article presents an overview of these methodologies, systematically classifying them and relating them to the particular cases where their application could be advantageous. A case study based on a Transmission Expansion Planning (TEP) problem, a field where Benders decomposition has been extensively applied, is developed. A selection of the improvement techniques relevant to the problem is identified by the examination of its basic characteristics. These techniques are implemented in the model and tested in several case studies of different sizes. Their performance is assessed and compared.