Nonlinear self-scheduling of a single unit small hydro plant in the day-ahead electricity market

Abstract

This  paper  presents  a  model  to  solve  the  self-scheduling  problem  of  a  single  unit  small  hydro  plant,  based  on  nonlinear  programming  techniques.  The  objective  is  to  maximize  the profit obtained by selling energy in the electricity market. The proposed model considers hydro power generation as a function of the  water  discharge  and  the  net  head  and  takes  into  account  the  unit  start-ups  and  shut-downs.  The  scheduling  problem  is  solved  with  commercially  available  optimization  software.  Input  data  are  introduced  through  a  worksheet,  where  results  are  exported  once  the   optimization   process   is   finished.   Finally,   results   from   a   practical case study are further discussed.