Optimal Control Algorithm for Hydropower Plants Chain Short-term Operation

Abstract

This paper presents a new optimization algorithm for solving the scheduling problem of hydroelectric power plant chain. Hydropower plants within the same river basin tend to be highly interdependant in the short–term. These interdependancies are acconmodated within the model incorporating some hydraulic properties in the ilow model of the river between the plants. A continuous dynamic model is developed that, inherently, considers the time lags nature of the problem. The hydropower plants operation problem is then formulated using the optimal control theory in order to maximize the benefit of a large power system comprising hydrostorage and thermal power plants using marginal price approach. It is shown that the optimization problem is reduced to the Pontryagin's Maximum Principle which can be efficiently solved by a suggested methodology. finally, it io demonstrated, with an application to the Egyptian power system having five hydrostorage plants, that the proposed technique is pragmatical for real case studies, developing optimal operation policy matchable with any specified electric load demand and providing a considerable improvement in the short–term energy generation.