Unit IV ECONOMIC OPERATION OF POWER SYSTEMS

Text Book
R4. Allen J. Wood, Bruce F. Wollenberg, Power Generation, Operation
and Control, John Wiley and Sons,
4.1.
1
Economic considerations, Load curve and load-duration
curve
4.2.
3
Load factor, diversity factor
4.3.
4
Unit commitment (UC) problem, and its Constraints
Priority list method R4:139
Dynamic programming (qualitative treatment only)
R4:240,
141
4.4. Economic dispatch problem R4: 29
4.5.
Incremental cost curve Coordination equations without
loss and with loss(No derivation of loss coefficients)
4.6. Solution by direct method and -iteration method R4: 39
4.7. Base point and participation factors. R4: 5
4.8.
Solution by direct method and -iteration method
Tutorial
4.9. Tutorial Load curve and load-duration curve, cost curve
4.0 ECONOMIC OPERATION OF POWER SYSTEMS
The art of determining the per unit (i.e., one kWh) cost of production of electrical energy is known as
economics of power generation.
A good business practice is the one in which the production cost is minimized without sacrificing the
quality. This is not any different in the power sector as well. The main aim here is to reduce the production cost
while maintaining the voltage magnitudes at each bus. Operation strategy along with the turbine-governor
control is required to maintain the power dispatch economically.
A power plant has to cater to load conditions all throughout the day, come summer or winter. It is
therefore illogical to assume that the same level of power must be generated at all time. The power generation
must vary according to the load pattern, which may in turn vary with season. Therefore the economic operation
must take into account the load condition at all times. Moreover once the economic generation condition has
been calculated, the turbine-governor must be controlled in such a way that this generation condition is
maintained.
4.1 ECONOMIC OPERATION OF POWER SYSTEM
In an early attempt at economic operation it was decided to supply power from the most efficient plant at
light load conditions. As the load increased, the power was supplied by this most efficient plant till the point of
maximum efficiency of this plant was reached. With further increase in load, the next most efficient plant would
supply power till its maximum efficiency is reached. In this way the power would be supplied by the most
efficient to the least efficient plant to reach the peak demand. Unfortunately however, this method failed to
minimize the total cost of electricity generation. We must therefore search for alternative method which takes
into account the total cost generation of all the units of a plant that is supplying a load.
4.1.1 Economic Distribution of Loads between the Units of a Plant
To determine the economic distribution of a load amongst the different units of a plant, the variable
operating costs of each unit must be expressed in terms of its power output. The fuel cost is the main cost in a
thermal or nuclear unit. Then the fuel cost must be expressed in terms of the power output. Other costs, such as
the operation and maintenance costs, can also be expressed in terms of the power output. Fixed costs, such as
the capital cost, depreciation etc., are not included in the fuel cost.
The fuel requirement of each generator is given in terms of the Rupees/hour. Let us define the input cost
of an unit-i, f
i
in Rs./h and the power output of the unit as P
i
. Then the input cost can be expressed in terms of
the power output as
i i i i
i
i
c P b P
a
f + +
2
2
Rs./h (4.1)
The operating cost given by the above quadratic equation is obtained by approximating the power in MW
versus the cost in Rupees curve. The incremental operating cost of each unit is then computed as
i i i
i
i
i
b P a
dP
df
+
Rs./MWh (4.2)
Let us now assume that only two units having different incremental costs supply a load. There will be a
reduction in cost if some amount of load is transferred from the unit with higher incremental cost to the unit
with lower incremental cost. In this fashion, the load is transferred from the less efficient unit to the more
efficient unit thereby reducing the total operation cost. The load transfer will continue till the incremental costs
of both the units are same. This will be optimum point of operation for both the units.
Example 4.1: Consider two units of a plant that have fuel costs of
25 10
2
8 . 0
1
2
1 1
+ + P P f
Rs./h and
20 6
2
7 . 0
2
2
2 2
+ + P P f
Rs./h
Then the incremental costs will be
10 8 . 0
1
1
1
1
+ P
dP
df

Rs./MWh and
6 7 . 0
2
2
2
2
+ P
dP
df

Rs./MWh
If these two units together supply a total of 220 MW, then P
1
= 100 MW and P
2
= 120 MW will result in an
incremental cost of
90 10 80
1
+ Rs./MWh and 90 6 84
2
+ Rs./MWh
This implies that the incremental costs of both the units will be same, i.e., the cost of one extra MW of
generation will be Rs. 90/MWh. Then we have
5025 25 100 10 100
2
8 . 0
2
1
+ + f
Rs./h and
5780 20 120 6 120
2
7 . 0
2
2
+ + f
Rs./h
and total cost of generation is
805 , 10
2 1
+ f f f
T
Rs./h
Now assume that we operate instead with P
1
= 90 MW and P
2
= 130 MW. Then the individual cost of
each unit will be
165 , 4 25 90 10 90
2
8 . 0
2
1
+ + f
Rs./h and
175 , 6 20 130 6 130
2
7 . 0
2
2
+ + f
Rs./h
and total cost of generation is
880 , 10
2 1
+ f f f
T
Rs./h
This implies that an additional cost of Rs. 75 is incurred for each hour of operation with this non-optimal
setting. Similarly it can be shown that the load is shared equally by the two units, i.e. P
1
= P
2
= 110 MW, then
the total cost is again 10,880 Rs./h.
The above principle can be extended to plants with a total of N number of units. The total fuel cost will
then be the summation of the individual fuel cost f
i
, i = 1, , N of each unit, i.e.,

+ + +
N
k
k N T
f f f f f
1
2 1

(4.3)
Let us denote that the total power that the plant is required to supply by P
T
, such that

+ + +
N
k
k N T
P P P P P
1
2 1

(4.4)
whereP
1
, , P
N
are the power supplied by the N different units.
The objective is minimizef
T
for a given P
T
. This can be achieved when the total difference df
T
becomes
zero, i.e.,
0
2
2
1
1

+ +

N
N
T T T
T
dP
P
f
dP
P
f
dP
P
f
df
(4.5)
Now since the power supplied is assumed to be constant we have
0
2 1
+ + +
N T
dP dP dP dP
(5.6)
Multiplying (4.6) by and subtracting from (4.5) we get
0
2
2
1
1

,
_

+ +

,
_

,
_

N
N
T T T
dP
P
f
dP
P
f
dP
P
f

(4.7)
The equality in (4.7) is satisfied when each individual term given in brackets is zero. This gives us
N i
P
f
i
T
, , 1 , 0

(4.8)
Also the partial derivative becomes a full derivative since only the term f
i
of f
T
varies with P
i
, i = 1, , N. We
then have
N
N
i
dP
df
dP
df
dP
df

2
2 1

(4.9)
4.1.2Generating Limits
It is not always necessary that all the units of a plant are available to share a load. Some of the units may
be taken off due to scheduled maintenance. Also it is not necessary that the less efficient units are switched off
during off peak hours. There is a certain amount of shut down and start up costs associated with shutting down a
unit during the off peak hours and servicing it back on-line during the peak hours. To complicate the problem
further, it may take about eight hours or more to restore the boiler of a unit and synchronizing the unit with the
bus. To meet the sudden change in the power demand, it may therefore be necessary to keep more units than it
necessary to meet the load demand during that time. This safety margin in generation is called spinning reserve.
The optimal load dispatch problem must then incorporate this startup and shut down cost for without
endangering the system security.
The power generation limit of each unit is then given by the inequality constraints
N i P P P
i i i
, , 1 ,
max, min,

(4.10)
The maximum limit P
max
is the upper limit of power generation capacity of each unit. On the other hand, the
lower limit P
min
pertains to the thermal consideration of operating a boiler in a thermal or nuclear generating
station. An operational unit must produce a minimum amount of power such that the boiler thermal components
are stabilized at the minimum design operating temperature.
Example 4.2: let us consider a generating station that contains a total number of three generating units.
The fuel costs of these units are given by
25 10
2
8 . 0
1
2
1 1
+ + P P f
Rs./h
20 5
2
7 . 0
2
2
2 2
+ + P P f
Rs./h
35 15
2
95 . 0
3
2
3 3
+ + P P f
Rs./h
The generation limits of the units are
MW 500 MW 30
1
P
MW 500 MW 30
2
P
MW 250 MW 30
3
P
The total load that these units supply varies between 90 MW and 1250 MW. Assuming that all the three units
are operational all the time, we have to compute the economic operating settings as the load changes.
The incremental costs of these units are
10 8 . 0
1
1
1
+ P
dP
df
Rs./MWh
5 7 . 0
2
2
2
+ P
dP
df
Rs./MWh
15 95 . 0
3
3
3
+ P
dP
df
Rs./MWh
At the minimum load the incremental cost of the units are
34 10 30
2
8 . 0
2
1
1
+
dP
df
Rs./MWh
26 5 30
2
7 . 0
2
2
2
+
dP
df
Rs./MWh
5 . 43 15 30
2
95 . 0
2
3
3
+
dP
df
Rs./MWh
Since units 1 and 3 have higher incremental cost, they must therefore operate at 30 MW each. The incremental
cost during this time will be due to unit-2 and will be equal to 26 Rs./MWh. With the generation of units 1 and
3 remaining constant, the generation of unit-2 is increased till its incremental cost is equal to that of unit-1, i.e.,
34 Rs./MWh. This is achieved when P
2
is equal to 41.4286 MW, at a total power of 101.4286 MW.
An increase in the total load beyond 101.4286 MW is shared between units 1 and 2, till their incremental
costs are equal to that of unit-3, i.e., 43.5 Rs./MWh. This point is reached when P
1
= 41.875 MW and P
2
= 55
MW. The total load that can be supplied at that point is equal to 126.875. From this point onwards the load is
shared between the three units in such a way that the incremental costs of all the units are same. For example for
a total load of 200 MW, from (4.4) and (4.9) we have
200
3 2 1
+ + P P P
5 7 . 0 10 8 . 0
2 1
+ + P P
15 95 . 0 5 7 . 0
3 2
+ + P P
Solving the above three equations we get P
1
= 66.37 MW, P
2
= 80 MW and P
3
= 50.63 MW and an incremental
cost () of 63.1 Rs./MWh. In a similar way the economic dispatch for various other load settings are computed.
The load distribution and the incremental costs are listed in Table 5.1 for various total power conditions.
At a total load of 906.6964, unit-3 reaches its maximum load of 250 MW. From this point onwards then,
the generation of this unit is kept fixed and the economic dispatch problem involves the other two units. For
example for a total load of 1000 MW, we get the following two equations from (4.4) and (4.9)
250 1000
2 1
+P P
5 7 . 0 10 8 . 0
2 1
+ + P P
Solving which we get P
1
= 346.67 MW and P
2
= 403.33 MW and an incremental cost of 287.33 Rs./MWh.
Furthermore, unit-2 reaches its peak output at a total load of 1181.25. Therefore any further increase in the total
load must be supplied by unit-1 and the incremental cost will only be borne by this unit. The power distribution
curve is shown in Fig. 4.1.
Table 4.1 Load distribution and incremental cost for the units of Example 5.1
PT (MW) P1 (MW) P2 (MW) P3 (MW) (Rs./MWh)
90 30 30 30 26
101.428
6
30 41.4286 30 34
120 38.67 51.33 30 40.93
126.875 41.875 55 30 43.5
150 49.62 63.85 36.53 49.7
200 66.37 83 50.63 63.1
300 99.87 121.28 78.85 89.9
400 133.38 159.57 107.05 116.7
500 166.88 197.86 135.26 143.5
600 200.38 236.15 163.47 170.3
700 233.88 274.43 191.69 197.1
800 267.38 312.72 219.9 223.9
906.696
4
303.125 353.571
4
250 252.5
1000 346.67 403.33 250 287.33
1100 393.33 456.67 250 324.67
1181.25 431.25 500 250 355
1200 450 500 250 370
1250 500 500 250 410
Fig.41 Power distribution between the units of Example 4.2.
Example 4.3: Consider two generating plant with same fuel cost and generation limits. These are given
by
2 , 1 Rs./h 25 10
2
8 . 0
2
+ + i P P f
i i i
2 , 1 , MW 500 MW 100 i P
i
For a particular time of a year, the total load in a day varies as shown in Fig. 5.2. Also an additional cost of Rs.
5,000 is incurred by switching of a unit during the off peak hours and switching it back on during the during the
peak hours. We have to determine whether it is economical to have both units operational all the time.
Fig. 4.2 Hourly distribution of load for the units of Example 4.2.
Since both the units have identical fuel costs, we can switch of any one of the two units during the off
peak hour. Therefore the cost of running one unit from midnight to 9 in the morning while delivering 200 MW
is
225 , 162 9 25 200 10 200
2
8 . 0
2

,
_

+ +
Rs.
Adding the cost of Rs. 5,000 for decommissioning and commissioning the other unit after nine hours, the total
cost becomes Rs. 167,225.
On the other hand, if both the units operate all through the off peak hours sharing power equally, then
we get a total cost of
450 , 90 2 9 25 100 10 100
2
8 . 0
2

,
_

+ +
Rs.
which is significantly less that the cost of running one unit alone.
4.1.3Economic Sharing of Loads between Different Plants
So far we have considered the economic operation of a single plant in which we have discussed how a
particular amount of load is shared between the different units of a plant. In this problem we did not have to
consider the transmission line losses and assumed that the losses were a part of the load supplied. However if
now consider how a load is distributed between the different plants that are joined by transmission lines, then
the line losses have to be explicitly included in the economic dispatch problem. In this section we shall discuss
this problem.
When the transmission losses are included in the economic dispatch problem, we can modify (4.4) as
LOSS N T
P P P P P + + +
2 1 (4.11)
whereP
LOSS
is the total line loss. Since P
T
is assumed to be constant, we have
LOSS N
dP dP dP dP + + +
2 1
0
(4.12)
In the above equation dP
LOSS
includes the power loss due to every generator, i.e.,
N
N
LOSS LOSS LOSS
LOSS
dP
P
P
dP
P
P
dP
P
P
dP

+ +

2
2
1
1
(4.13)
Also minimum generation cost implies df
T
= 0 as given in (4.5). Multiplying both (4.12) and (4.13) by and
combing we get
N
N
LOSS LOSS LOSS
dP
P
P
dP
P
P
dP
P
P

,
_

+ +

,
_

,
_

2
2
1
1
0
(4.14)
Adding (4.14) with (4.5) we obtain

,
_

N
i
i
i
LOSS
i
T
dP
P
P
P
f
1
0
(4.15)
The above equation satisfies when
N i
P
P
P
f
i
LOSS
i
T
, , 1 , 0

(4.16)
Again since
N i
P
df
P
f
i
T
i
T
, , 1 ,

from (4.16) we get

N
N
N
i
L
dP
df
L
dP
df
L
dP
df

2
2
2
1
1

(4.17)
whereL
i
is called the penalty factor of load-i and is given by
N i
P P
L
i LOSS
i
, , 1 ,
1
1

(4.18)
Example 4.4: Let us consider the two generating units of Example 4.1. It is assumed that the
transmission loss is defined in terms of the two units as
2
2
4
2 1
5 2
1
4
10 8 . 0 10 4 . 1 10 9 . 0 P P P P P
LOSS
+ +

MW
Therefore
2
5
1
4 1
10 4 . 1 10 8 . 1 1
1
P P
L

and
2
4
1
5 2
10 6 . 1 10 4 . 1 1
1
P P
L

Let us assume that the incremental cost is = 150 Rs./MWh. We then have
2
5
1
4
1
10 4 . 1 10 8 . 1 1
10 8 . 0
150
P P
P


+

2
4
1
5
2
10 6 . 1 10 4 . 1 1
6 7 . 0
150
P P
P


+

Rearranging the above two equations we get

1
]
1

1
]
1

1
]
1

144
140
7240 . 0 0021 . 0
0021 . 0 8270 . 0
2
1
P
P
The solution of the above equation produces P
1
= 168.78 MW and P
2
= 198.41 MW. The total power loss is
then
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
MW 18 . 6
41 . 198 10 8 . 0 41 . 198 78 . 168 10 4 . 1 78 . 168 10 9 . 0
2 4 5 2 4

+ +

LOSS
P
Therefore the total power supplied to the load is
361 18 . 6 41 . 198 78 . 168
2 1
+ +
LOSS T
P P P P
MW
Consider an area with N number of units. The power generated are defined by the vector
[ ]
T
N
P P P P
2 1

Then the transmission losses are expressed in general as

BP P P
T
LOSS
(4.19)
whereB is a symmetric matrix given by
1
1
1
1
]
1

NN N N
N
N
B B B
B B B
B B B
B

2 1
2 22 12
1 12 11
The elements B
ij
of the matrix B are called the loss coefficients. These coefficients are not constant but vary with
plant loading. However for the simplified calculation of the penalty factor L
i
these coefficients are often
assumed to be constant.
When the incremental cost equations are linear, we can use analytical equations to find out the economic
settings. However in practice, the incremental costs are given by nonlinear equations that may even contain
nonlinearities. In that case iterative solutions are required to find the optimal generator settings.
4.2 Important Terms and Factors
(i) Connected load. It is the sum of continuous ratings of all the equipment connected to supply system. Unit :
Watt (W).
(ii) Maximum demand. It is the greatest demand of load on the power station during a given period. The
knowledge of maximum demand is very important as it helps in determining the installed capacity of the
station. Unit: Watt (W).
(iii) Demand factor. It is the ratio of maximum demand on the power station to its connected load. The
knowledge of demand factor is vital in determining the capacity of the plant equipment.
load connecetd
demand maximum
factor Demand
(iv)Average load. The average loads occurring on the power station in a given period (day or month or year) is
known as average load or average demand.
hours hours
kWh day per generated Units
load average Daily
24
day a in consumed Energy
24
) (

month a in hours of number
month a in consumed Energy ) (

month a in hours of Number
kWh month per generated Units
load average Monthly
hours 8760
year a in consumed Energy
8760
) ( generated Unit

hours
kWh year a in
load average Annual
(v) Load factor. The ratio of average load to the maximum demand during a given period.
4 2 Demand Maximum
period a during Consumed Energy Total
.) . (
hr load peak
load Average
F L Factor Load Daily

hr load peak
energy anual total
F L Annual
8760
. .

Example 4.1
The maximum demand on a power station is 100 MW. If the annual load factor is 40%, calculate the total
energy consumed in a year.
Solution:
Energy consumed in a year = Max. demand x hours in a year x L.F.

( )
kWh
5
11
6
10 3504
10 504 . 3
40 . 0 8760 10 100



Example 4.2
A generating station has a connected load of 43 MW and a maximum demand of 20 MW and the unit generated
being 61.5 x 10
6
kWh per annum. Calculate:
(i) the demand factor
(ii) load factor
Solution:
(i)
465 . 0
43
20 .

load Connected
demand Max
factor Demand
(ii) kW
hrs
year a in
demand Average 5 . 7020
8760
10 5 . 61
8760
generated Unit
6

Example 4.3
A 100 MW power station delivers 100 MW for 2 hours, 50 MW for 6 hours and is shut down for the rest of
each day. It is also shut down for maintenance for 45 days each year. Calculate the annual load factor.
Solution:
The generated unit on working hour:
( ) ( )
MWh 500
6 50 2 100

+
Operation days in a year = 365 45 = 320 days in a year
The unit generated in a year:
= 500 MWh x 320 = 160000 MWh
Annual load factor
% 100
.

hours working demand Max

year a in consumed Energy


( )
% 8 . 20 % 100
24 320 100
160000

Examples 4.4
A diesel station supplies the following load to the various consumers:
Industrial consumer : 1500 kW
Commercial establishment : 750 kW
Domestic power : 100 kW
Domestic light : 450 kW
If the maximum demand of the station is 2500 kW and the number of kWh being supplied per year is 45 x 10
5
,
determine:
(i) Average load in a year
(ii) Annual load factor
Solution:
(i) Annual average load kW
hours
year a in
7 . 513
8760
10 45
8760
generated Unit
5

(ii) Annual load factor
% 100
.

demand Max
load average Annual

% 5 . 20 % 100
2500
7 . 513

Example 4.5
A power station has the following daily load cycle:
Time in
hours
6-8 8 - 12 12 - 16 16 - 20 20 - 24 24 - 6
Load in
MW
20 40 60 20 50 20
(i) Plot the load curves
(ii) Plot the load duration curves
(iii) Calculate the total energy being supplied in a day
(iv)Calculate the daily load factor
Solution:
1. The load curves

2. The load duration curves
time (hrs)
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
L
o
a
d

i
n

M
W
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
60
50
40
30
20
10
Hours duration
L
o
a
d

i
n

M
W
3. Total energy supplied
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) 6 20 4 50 4 20 4 60 4 40 2 20 + + + + +
kWh MWh
3
10 840 840
4. Daily load factor
% 100
24 .

hrs demand Max

day a in consumed energy Total

% 33 . 58
% 100
24 10 60
10 840
3
3

4.3 UNIT COMMITMENT

Unit refers to generating unit and to commit a generating unit is to turn it on. That means, start
and bring the unit up to speed, synchronize it to the power system to make it deliver power to the network. To
commit enough units and leave them online, whatever be the load demand is uneconomical. It is expensive to
run more generating units than what is required and decommitting or turning them off, when they are not
needed, can save considerable money.
For example, assume that there are three units and each units minimum and maximum MW limits and
fuel costs are known. Let unit 1 be the most economic and unit 3 the most expensive. Then the optimum
commitment will be to first supply from unit 1 and the load can be supplied by operating closer to its best
efficiency and then when the load increases the second unit will be committed with both units run at their best
efficiency possible so that the cost is minimum. The third unit is committed when the load increases sufficiently
so that it is economical to commit unit 3 than to supply the load from two units.
Figure shows a unit commitment schedule in the case of a simple peak - valley pattern of load variation.
Unit 1: Min = 150 MW, Max = 600 MW Most economical
Unit 2 Min = 100 MW, Max = 400 MW
Unit 3:Min = 50 MW, Max = 200 MW least economical.
But the unit commitment problem is not just meeting the load and is much more than this as there are other
constraints to be considered.
4.3.1 CONSTRAINTS IN UNIT COMMITMENT:
Unit commitment problem can have many constraints depending on different rules imposed on
scheduling by individual power system, power pool, reliability council etc.
4.3.1.1 Spinning reserve is the total amount of generation available from all units synchronized (i.e., spinning)
on the system, minus the present load and losses. When a generator is lost, there must be ample reserve on other
units to compensate up for the loss in a specified time period. Reserve is calculated as a percentage of
forecasted peak demand, or it must be capable of making up the loss of the most heavily loaded unit in a given
period of time. It is also sometimes calculated as a function of the probability of not having sufficient
generation to meet the load. Reserve capacity must be allocated based on unit being fast-responding or slow-
responding.
Unit commitment problem include scheduled reserves or off-line reserves that can be brought on-line,
synchronized, and brought up to full capacity quickly.
Reserve must be spread around the power system so that they can be made use of even in the case of islanding
when system gets disintegrated due to some problem.
4.3.1.2Thermal units require a team of personnel to operate them, especially when turned on and turned off.
Since temperature changes can only be gradual some hours are required to bring the unit on-line. Due to these
restrictions in the operation of a thermal plant, various constraints arise, such as
Minimum up time: once the unit is running, it should not be turned off immediately
Minimum down time: once the unit is decommitted, there is a minimum time before it can be
recommitted.
Crew constraints: In a plant with more than one unit there may not be enough personnel to attend both the
units if both are turned on or off at the same time and hence at the same time both can not be turned on or
off.
A certain amount of energy is expended to bring the unit on-line. This is not generated and is included in
the unit commitment problem as a start-up cost.
4.3.1.3 Hydro-Constraints
Unit commitment if separated from the scheduling of hydro-units as a separate hydrothermal scheduling or
coordination problem may not result in an optimal solution.
4.3.1.4 Must Run
Some units must-run during certain times of the year for voltage support on the transmission network or for
supply of steam for uses outside the steam plant itself.
4.3.1.5 Fuel Constraints
Some units may have limited fuel, or else have constraints that require them to burn a specified amount of fuel
in a given time, presenting a challenging unit commitment problem.
4.4 UNIT COMMITMENT SOLUTION METHODS:
The most talked about techniques for the solution of unit-commitment problem are :
Priority-list schemes
Dynamic Programming (DP)
Lagrange relation(LR)
4.4.1 PRIORITY LIST METHOD:
Priority-List Methods consist of a simple shut-down rule obtained by an exhaustive enumeration of all unit
combinations at each load level or obtained by noting the full-load average production cost of each unit . The
full-load average production cost is the net heat rate at full load multiplied by the fuel cost .
Typical shut-down rules
at each hour when load is dropping, determine whether dropping the next unit on the list leaves
sufficient generation to supply the load plus the spinning-reserve requirements
if the supply is not sufficient, keep the unit committed determine the number of hours before the unit
is needed again
if the time is less than the minimum shut-down time for the unit, keep it committed perform a cost
comparison
the sum of the hourly production costs for the next number of hours with the next unit to be dropped
being committed
and the sum of the restart costs for the next unit based on the minimum cost of cooling the unit or
banking the unit
Advantages:
are flexible and allow for the consideration of practical operating constraints
feasible solutions if there are any are usually obtained
computational requirements in terms of memory and running time are modest.
Disadvantages :
This method cannot guarantee the optimal solutions or even furnish an estimate of the magnitude of their sub-
optimality.
4.4.2 DYNAMIC PROGRAMMING METHODS :
The following assumptions are made in this implementation of the DP approach
a state consists of an array of units with specified units operating and the rest decommitted (off-line). A
feasible state is one in which the committed units can supply the required load and meets the minimum
capacity for each period
start-up costs are independent of the off-line or down-time i.e., it is a fixed amount w.r.t. time
no unit shutting-down costs a strict priority order will be used within each interval
a specified minimum amount of capacity must be operating within each interval
There are two methods of DP. They are
1. Forward dynamic programming
2. Reverse dynamic programming
The forward DP approach :
The forward DP approach runs forward in time from the initial hour to the final hour
Recursive algorithm to compute the minimum cost in Kth hour with Ith Combination is,
F
cost
(J,K) = min[ P
cost
(J,K) + S
cost
(J-1,L; J,K) + F
cost
(J-1, L) ]
Where,
F
cost
(J,K) = Least total cost to arrive at state (J, K) ;
P
cost
(J,K) = Production cost for state (J, K) ;
S
cost
(J-1,L; J,K)= Transition cost from state (J-1,L) to State (J, K) ;
F
cost
= Kth Combination in Jth hour
Disadvantages :
The dynamic -programming method of solution of the unit commitment problem has many disadvantages for
large power systems with many generating units . This is because of the necessity of forcing the dynamic-
programming solution to search over a small number of commitment states to reduce the number of
combinations that must be tested in each time period .
ECONOMIC DISPATCH PROBLEM
3.1 THE ECONOMICDISPATCH PROBLEM
INCREMENTAL COST CURVE COORDINATION EQUATIONS WITHOUT LOSS
AND WITH LOSS(NO DERIVATION OF LOSS COEFFICIENTS)
SOLUTION BY DIRECT METHOD AND -ITERATION METHOD
BASE POINT AND PARTICIPATION FACTORS.
SOLUTION BY DIRECT METHOD AND -ITERATION METHOD TUTORIAL
TUTORIAL LOAD CURVE AND LOAD-DURATION CURVE, COST CURVE