www.Vidyarthiplus.

com

UNIT –IV

ECONOMIC OPERATION OF POWER SYSTEM

www.Vidyarthiplus.com
 www.Vidyarthiplus.com

PART-A

1. Mention the constraints in unit commitment problem.

2. What are base-point and participation factors?
3. Compare economic dispatch and unit commitment.
4. List the various constraints in economic dispatch problem.
5. Write the coordination equation for (i) With loss (ii) Without loss.
6. Explain penalty factor.
7. What is meant by incremental fuel cost curve?
8. Define spinning reserve.
9. What are the factors affecting the cost of generation?

10.What are the advantages of using participation factor

PART-B

1. Derive the coordination equation with losses neglected.

2. Derive the coordination equation of an ‘n’ bus power system taking into account the effect of
system losses.
3. Derive the expression for base point and participation method.
4. State the unit commitment problem. With the help of flowchart explain forward dynamic
programming solution method.
5…Explain Priority list method using full Load average production cost. State the merits and
demerits.
6…Numerical problems in economic dispatch & unit commitment

www.Vidyarthiplus.com
 www.Vidyarthiplus.com

UNIT – IV
1.Mention the constraints in unit commitment problem.
1.Spinning reserve:

2.Thermal Constraints = Minimum up time

Minimum down time
Crew Constraint

3.Other Constraints = Hydro Constraint

Must run constraint
Fuel constraint.

2.What are base-point and participation factors?

The present operating point of the system is called base point.

The change in generation required to meet power demand is called as participation factor.

3.List the various constraints in economic dispatch problem.

The equality constraint equation
PD = PG1 + PG2 + …….. + PGN = PGi …(1)
Power demand = Total Generation
Where, PGi = Output of unit i, MW.
PD = Total power received by the plant bus and transferred to the load.
Since our system is a compact one and we neglect the losses in the transmission
line. We may write equation (1) as,

H (PGi, PG2 ……….. PGN) = PD - PGi = 0

4.Explain penalty factor.

The exact coordination equation is given by

Lamda=(IC)i/1-(ITL)i=(IC)iLi.
Li=1/1-(ITL)i
Li is a penalty factor where ITLi incremental transmissions loss.

5.Define spinning reserve.

Spinning reserve is the total amount of generation available from all units synchronized
on the system minus the present load and losses being supplied.

Spinning reserve = Total amount of generation – (Present load + losses)

6.Compare economic dispatch and unit commitment.

www.Vidyarthiplus.com
 www.Vidyarthiplus.com

Unit Commitment Economic load dispatch

Optimum allocation of number of units to be Optimum location of generation to each
operated (to determine the units of a plant station (at each generating station at various
that should operate for a given load is the load levels)
problem of unit commitment)
There are number of subsets of the complete The problem assumes that there are n units
set of n units that would satisfy the expected already connected to the systems
demand
Purpose of units commitment is to find the Purpose of economic dispatch problems is to
optimal subset among the subsets which find the optimum operating policy for these
provide the minimum operating cost n units

7.Write the coordination equation for (i) With loss (ii) Without loss.
Refer PART-B
8.What is meant by incremental fuel cost curve?
Refer PART - B
9.What are the factors affecting the cost of generation?
(i) Equality constraint
(ii) Inequality constraints
(a) Generator Constraints
(b) Voltage Constraints
(c) Running space capacity constraints
(d) Transformer tap settings.
(e) Transmission line constraints

10.What are the advantages of using participation factor?

a) Computer implementation of economic dispatch is straight forward

b) Execution time for economic dispatch is short

c) It will always give consistent answers when units reach limits.

d) It gives linear incremental cost function or have non-convex cost curves.

www.Vidyarthiplus.com
 www.Vidyarthiplus.com

ECONOMIC DISPATCH
Economic Operation of Power Systems

One of the earliest applications of on-line centralized control was to provide a central
facility, to operate economically, several generating plants supplying the loads of the system.
Modern integrated systems have different types of generating plants, such as coal fired
thermal plants, hydel plants, nuclear plants, oil and natural gas units etc. The capital
investment, operation and maintenance costs are different for different types of plants.

The operation economics can again be subdivided into two parts.

i) Problem of economic dispatch, which deals with determining the power output of each
plant to meet the specified load, such that the overall fuel cost is minimized.
ii) Problem of optimal power flow, which deals with minimum – loss delivery, where in the
power flow, is optimized to minimize losses in the system. In this chapter we consider the
problem of economic dispatch.

During operation of the plant, a generator may be in one of the following states:

i) Base supply without regulation: the output is a constant.

ii) Base supply with regulation: output power is regulated based on system load.
iii) Automatic non-economic regulation: output level changes around a base setting as area
control error changes.
iv) Automatic economic regulation: output level is adjusted, with the area load and area
control error, while tracking an economic setting.

Regardless of the units operating state, it has a contribution to the economic

operation,
even though its output is changed for different reasons. The factors influencing the cost of
generation are the generator efficiency, fuel cost and transmission losses. The most efficient
generator may not give minimum cost, since it may be located in a place where fuel cost is
high. Further, if the plant is located far from the load centers, transmission losses may be high
and running the plant may become uneconomical. The economic dispatch problem basically
determines the generation of different plants to minimize total operating cost.
Modern generating plants like nuclear plants, geo-thermal plants etc, may require
capital
Investment of millions of rupees. The economic dispatch is however determined in terms of
fuel cost per unit power generated and does not include capital investment, maintenance,
depreciation, start-up and shut down costs etc.
www.Vidyarthiplus.com
 www.Vidyarthiplus.com

Performance Curves

Input-Output Curve
This is the fundamental curve for a thermal plant and is a plot of the input in British
thermal units (Btu) per hour versus the power output of the plant in MW as shown in Fig 2.1

Input – output curve

Heat Rate Curve
The heat rate is the ratio of fuel input in Btu to energy output in KWh. It is the slope of the
input – output curve at any point. The reciprocal of heat – rate is called fuel –efficiency. The
heat rate curve is a plot of heat rate versus output in MW.

Heat rate curve.

Incremental Fuel Rate Curve
The incremental fuel rate is equal to a small change in input divided by the corresponding
change in output.

Incremental fuel rate =∆Input/∆ Output

The unit is again Btu / KWh. A plot of incremental fuel rate versus the output

www.Vidyarthiplus.com
 www.Vidyarthiplus.com

Incremental fuel rate curve

Incremental cost curve

The incremental cost is the product of incremental fuel rate and fuel cost (Rs / Btu or $ /Btu).
The curve in shown in Fig. 4. The unit of the incremental fuel cost is Rs / MWh or $ /MWh.

Incremental cost curve

In general, the fuel cost Fi for a plant, is approximated as a quadratic function of the
generated output PGi.
2
Fi = ai + bi PGi + ci PG Rs / h --------------------------------- (4)

The incremental fuel cost is given by

Rs / MWh ------------------------------------
= +2 (5)

The incremental fuel cost is a measure of how costly it will be produce an increment of
power. The incremental production cost, is made up of incremental fuel cost plus the
incremental cost of labour, water, maintenance etc. which can be taken to be some percentage
of the incremental fuel cost, instead of resorting to a rigorous mathematical model. The cost

www.Vidyarthiplus.com
 www.Vidyarthiplus.com

curve can be approximated by a linear curve. While there is negligible operating cost for a
hydel plant, there is a limitation on the power output possible. In any plant, all units normally
operate between PGmin, the minimum loading limit, below which it is technically infeasible
to operate a unit and PGmax, which is the maximum output limit.

Solution Methods:
1. Lagrange Multiplier method
2. Lamda iteration method
3. Gradient method
4. Dynamic programming
5. Evolutionary Computation techniques

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.. The Economic Dispatch Problem without Loss.

This system consists of N thermal-generating units connected to a single

bus-bar serving a received electrical load Pload input to each unit, shown as FI,represents the
cost rate of the unit. The output of each unit, Pi, is the electrical power generated by that
particular unit. The total cost rate of this system is, of course, the sum of the costs of each of
the individual units. The essential constraint on the operation of this system is that the sum of
the output powers must equal the load demand.Mathematically speaking, the problem may be
stated very concisely. That is, an objective function, FT, is equal to the total cost for
supplying the indicated load. The problem is to minimize FT subject to the constraint that the
sum of the powers generated must equal the received load. Note that any transmission losses
are neglected and any operating limits are not explicitly stated when formulating this
problem. That is,

------------------------------------------ (6)

N thermal units committed to serve a load of Pload.

This is a constrained optimization problem that may be attacked formally using advanced

www.Vidyarthiplus.com
 www.Vidyarthiplus.com

calculus methods that involve the Lagrange function. In order to establish the necessary
conditions for an extreme value of the objective function, add the constraint function to the
objective function after the constraint function has been multiplied by an undetermined
multiplier. This is known as the Lagrange function and is shown in Eq(7)

------------------------------------------------ (7)

The necessary conditions for an extreme value of the objective function result when we
take the first derivative of the Lagrange function with respect to each of the independent
variables and set the derivatives equal to zero. In this case,there are N+1 variables, the N
values of power output, Pi, plus the undetermined Lagrange multiplier, λ. The derivative of
the Lagrange function with respect to the undetermined multiplier merely gives back the
constraint equation. On the other hand, the N equations that result when we take the
partial derivative of the Lagrange function with respect to the power output values one at a
time give the set of equations shown as Eq. 8.

When we recognize the inequality constraints, then the necessary conditions may be
expanded slightly as shown in the set of equations making up Eq. 9

--------------------------------------------- (9)

EXAMPLE 1
Suppose that we wish to determine the economic operating point for these three units
when delivering a total of 850 MW. Before this problem can be solved,
the fuel cost of each unit must be specified. Let the following fuel costs are in effect.

Unit 1: Coal-fired steam unit: Max output = 600 MW Min output = 150 MW
Input-output curve:

Unit 2 Oil-fired steam unit: Max output = 400 MW

Min output = 100 MW

www.Vidyarthiplus.com
 www.Vidyarthiplus.com

Input-output curve:

Unit 3: Oil-fired steam unit: Max output = 200 MW, Min output = 50 MW

Input-output curve:

Unit 1: fuel cost = 1.1 P/MBtu

Unit 2: fuel cost = 1.0 Jt/MBtu
Unit 3: fuel cost = 1.0 Jt/MBtu

Then

Using Eq. 3.5, the conditions for an optimum dispatch are

and then solving for,

P1,P2,P3 P1 = 393.2 MW
P2 = 334.6 MW
P3 = 122.2 MW
Note that all constraints are met; that is, each unit is within its high and low limit and the total
output when summed over all three units meet the desired 850 MW total.

www.Vidyarthiplus.com
 www.Vidyarthiplus.com

EXAMPLE 2
Suppose the price of coal decreased to 0.9 P/MBtu. The fuel cost function for unit 1 becomes

If one goes about the solution exactly as done here, the results are

This solution meets the constraint requiring total generation to equal 850 MW, but units 1 and
3 are not within limit. To solve for the most economic dispatch while meeting unit limits,
suppose unit 1 is set to its maximum output and unit 3 to its minimum output. The dispatch
becomes

we see that λ must equal the incremental cost of unit 2 since

it is not at either limit. Then

Next, calculate the incremental cost for units 1 and 3 to see if they meet the conditions.

Note that the incremental cost for unit 1 is less than λ, so unit 1 should be at its maximum.
However, the incremental cost for unit 3 is not greater than ,λ so unit 3 should not be forced
to its minimum. Thus, to find the optimal dispatch, allow the incremental cost at units 2 and 3
to equal λ as follows.

www.Vidyarthiplus.com
 www.Vidyarthiplus.com

2. Thermal System Dispatching With Network Losses Considered

symbolically an all-thermal power generation system connected to an equivalent load

bus through a transmission network. The economic dispatching problem associated with this
particular configuration is slightly more complicated to set up than the previous case. This is
because the constraint equation is now one that must include the network losses. The
objective function, FT, is the same as that defined for Eq.10

------------------ (10)
The same procedure is followed in the formal sense to establish the necessary
conditions for a minimum-cost operating solution, The Lagrange function is shown in Eq.11.
In taking the derivative of the Lagrange function with respect to each of the individual power
outputs, Pi, it must be recognized that the loss in the transmission network, P loss is a function
of the network impedances and the currents flowing in the network. For our purposes, the
currents will be considered only as a function of the independent variables P i and the load
Pload taking the derivative of the Lagrange function with respect to any one of the N values of
Pi results in Eq. 11. collectively as the coordination equations.

----------------------------------- (11)
It is much more difficult to solve this set of equations than the previous set with no
losses since this second set involves the computation of the network loss in order to establish
the validity of the solution in satisfying the constraint equation. There have been two general
approaches to the solution of this problem. The first is the development of a mathematical
expression for the losses in the network solely as a function of the power output of each of
the units. This is the loss-formula method discussed at some length in Kirchmayer’s
Economic Operation of Power Systems. The other basic approach to the solution of this
problem is to incorporate the power flow equations as essential constraints in the formal
establishment of the optimization problem. This general approach is known as the optimal
power flow.

www.Vidyarthiplus.com
 www.Vidyarthiplus.com

N thermal units serving load through transmission network

The Lambda-Iteration Method

block diagram of the lambda-iteration method of solution for the all-thermal,
dispatching problem-neglecting losses. We can approach the solution to this problem by
considering a graphical technique for solving the problem and then extending this into the
area of computer algorithms. Suppose we have a three-machine system and wish to find the
optimum economic operating point. One approach would be to plot the incremental cost
characteristics for each of these three units on the same graph,
In order to establish the operating points of each of these three units such that we have
minimum cost and at the same time satisfy the specified demand, we could use this sketch
and a ruler to find the solution. That is, we could assume an incremental cost rate (λ) and find
the power outputs of each of the three units for this value of incremental cost. the three units
for this value of incremental cost. Of course, our first estimate will be incorrect. If we have
assumed the value of incremental cost such that the total power output is too low, we must
increase the 3. value and try another solution. With two solutions, we can extrapolate (or
interpolate) the two solutions to get closer to the desired value of total received power. By
keeping track of the total demand versus the incremental cost, we can rapidly find the desired
operating point. If we wished, we could manufacture a whole series of tables that would show
the total power supplied for different incremental cost levels and combinations of units. That
is, we will now establish a set of logical rules that would enable us to accomplish the same
objective as we have just done with ruler and graph paper. The actual details of how the
power output is established as a function of the incremental cost rate are of very little
importance.

www.Vidyarthiplus.com
 www.Vidyarthiplus.com

Lambda-iteration method

We could, for example, store tables of data within the computer and interpolate
between the stored power points to find exact power output for a specified value of
incremental cost rate. Another approach would be to develop an analytical function for the
power output as a function of the incremental cost rate, store this function (or its coefficients)
in the computer, and use this to establish the output of each of the individual units.

This procedure is an iterative type of computation, and we must establish stopping

rules. Two general forms of stopping rules seem appropriate for this application..The lambda-
iteration procedure converges very rapidly for this particular type of optimization problem.
The actual computational procedure is slightly more complex than that indicated ,since it is
necessary to observe the operating limits on each of the units during the course of the
computation. The well-known Newton-Raphson method may be used to project the
incremental cost value to drive the error between the computed and desired generation to
zero.

www.Vidyarthiplus.com
 www.Vidyarthiplus.com

Example:3
Given the generator cost functions found in Example 2.1, solve for the economic
0
dispatch of generation with a total load of 800 MW.Using α = 100 and starting from P1 = 300
0 0
MW, P2 = 200 MW, and P3 =300 MW, we set the initial value of λ. equal to the average of
the incremental costs of the generators at their starting generation values. This value is
9.4484.The progress of the gradient search is shown in Table 3.2. The table shows that the
iterations have led to no solution at all. Attempts to use this formulation

will result in difficulty as the gradient cannot guarantee that the adjustment to the generators
will result in a schedule that meets the correct total load of 800 MW.A simple variation of
this technique is to realize that one of the generators is always a dependent variable and
remove it from the problem. In this case, we pick P3 and use the following:

Then the total cost, which is to be minimized, is:

Note that this function stands by itself as a function of two variables with no
load-generation balance constraint (and no λ). The cost can be minimized by
a gradient method and in this case the gradient is:

\
Note that this gradient goes to the zero vector when the incremental cost at generator 3 is
equal to that at generators 1 and 2. The gradient steps are performed in the same manner as
previously, where:

www.Vidyarthiplus.com
 www.Vidyarthiplus.com

------------------------------------ (12)
Each time a gradient step is made, the generation at generator 3 is set to 800 minus the sum
of the generation at generators 1 and 2. This method is often called the “reduced gradient”
because of the smaller number of variables.

3. Derive the Base Point and Participation Factors

This method assumes that the economic dispatch problem has to be solved repeatedly by
moving the generators from one economically optimum schedule to another as the load
changes by a reasonably small amount. We start from a given schedule-the base point. Next,
the scheduler assumes a load change and investigates how much each generating unit needs to
be moved (i.e.,“participate” in the load change) in order that the new load be served at the
most economic operating point.Assume that both the first and second derivatives in the cost
versus power output function are available (Le., both F; and Fy exist). The incremental cost
th
curve of the i unit is given in Figure 3.7. As the unit load is changed by an amount, the
0 0
system incremental cost moves from λ toλ for a small change in power output on this single
unit,

----------------------------------------- (13)
This is true for each of the N units on the system, so that

---------------------------------------(14)
The total change in generation (=change in total system demand) is, of course, the sum of the
individual unit changes. Let Pd be the total demand on the generators (where Pload+Ploss&),
then

www.Vidyarthiplus.com
 www.Vidyarthiplus.com

---------------------------------------- (15)
The earlier equation, 15, can be used to find the participation factor for each unit as follows

--------------------------------------- (16)
The computer implementation of such a scheme of economic dispatch is straightforward. It
might be done by provision of tables of the values of FY as a function of the load levels and
devising a simple scheme to take the existing load plus the projected increase to look up these
data and compute the factors. somewhat less elegant scheme to provide participation factors
would involve a repeat economic dispatch calculation at. The base-point economic generation
values are then subtracted from the new economic generation values and the difference
divided to provide the participation factors. This scheme works well in computer
implementations where the execution time for the economic dispatch is short and will always
give consistent answers when units reach limits, pass through break points on piecewise
linear incremental cost functions, or have nonconvex cost curves.

EXAMPLE 2.4
Starting from the optimal economic solution found in Example 2A; use the participation
factor method to calculate the dispatch for a total load of 900 MW.

www.Vidyarthiplus.com
 www.Vidyarthiplus.com

UNIT COMMITMENT
The life style of a modern man follows regular habits and hence the present society
also follows regularly repeated cycles or pattern in daily life. Therefore, the consumption of
electrical energy also follows a predictable daily, weekly and seasonal pattern. There are
periods of high power consumption as well as low power consumption. It is therefore
possible to commit the generating units from the available capacity into service to meet the
demand. The previous discussions all deal with the computational aspects for allocating load
to a plant in the most economical manner. For a given combination of plants the
determination of optimal combination of plants for operation at any one time is also desired
for carrying out the aforesaid task. The plant commitment and unit ordering schedules extend
the period of optimization from a few minutes to several hours. From daily schedules weekly
patterns can be developed. Likewise, monthly, seasonal and annual schedules can be prepared
taking into consideration the repetitive nature of the load demand and seasonal variations.
Unit commitment schedules are thus required for economically committing the units in plants
to service with the time at which individual units should be taken out from or returned to
service.

Constraints in Unit Commitment

Many constraints can be placed on the unit commitment problem. The list presented
here is by no means exhaustive. Each individual power system, power pool, reliability
council, and so forth, may impose different rules on the scheduling of units, depending on the
generation makeup, load-curve characteristics,
and such.
Spinning Reserve
Spinning reserve is the term used to describe the total amount of generation available

www.Vidyarthiplus.com
 www.Vidyarthiplus.com

from all units synchronized (i.e., spinning) on the system, minus the present load and losses
being supplied. Spinning reserve must be carried so that the loss of one or more units does not
cause too far a drop in system frequency. Quite simply, if one unit is lost, there must be
ample reserve on the other units to make up for the loss in a specified time period.Spinning
reserve must be allocated to obey certain rules, usually set by regional reliability councils (in
the United States) that specify how the reserve is to be allocated to various units. Typical
rules specify that reserve must be a given percentage of forecasted peak demand, or that
reserve must be capable of making up the loss of the most heavily loaded unit in a given
period of time.Others calculate reserve requirements as a function of the probability of not
having sufficient generation to meet the load.Not only must the reserve be sufficient to make
up for a generation-unit failure, but the reserves must be allocated among fast-responding
units and slow-responding units. This allows the automatic generation control system to
restore frequency and interchange quickly in the event of a generating-unit outage. Beyond
spinning reserve, the unit commitment problem may involve various classes of “scheduled
reserves” or “off-line” reserves. These include quick-start

diesel or gas-turbine units as well as most hydro-units and pumped-storage hydro-units that
can be brought on-line, synchronized, and brought up to full capacity quickly. As such, these
units can be “counted” in the overall reserve assessment, as long as their time to come up to
full capacity is taken into account. Reserves, finally, must be spread around the power system
to avoid transmission system limitations (often called “bottling” of reserves) and to allow
various parts of the system to run as “islands,” should they become electrically disconnected.

Thermal Unit Constraints

Thermal units usually require a crew to operate them, especially when turned on and turned
off. A thermal unit can undergo only gradual temperature changes, and this translates into a
time period of some hours required to bring the unit on-line. As a result of such restrictions in
the operation of a thermal plant, various constraints arise, such as:
1. Minimum up time: once the unit is running, it should not be turned off immediately
2. Minimum down time: once the unit is decommitted, there is a minimum time before it
can be recommitted.
3. Crew constraints: if a plant consists of two or more units, they cannot both be turned on
at the same time since there are not enough crew members to attend both units while starting
up. In addition, because the temperature and pressure of the thermal unit must be moved
slowly, a certain amount of energy must be expended to bring the unit on-line. This energy
does not result in any MW generation from the unit and is brought into the unit commitment
problem as a start-up cost. The start-up cost can vary from a maximum “cold-start” value to a
much smaller value if the unit was only turned off recently and is still relatively close to

www.Vidyarthiplus.com
 www.Vidyarthiplus.com

operating temperature. There are two approaches to treating a thermal unit during its down
period. The first allows the unit’s boiler to cool down and then heat back up to operating
temperature in time for a scheduled turn on. The second (called banking) requires that
sufficient energy be input to the boiler to just maintain operating temperature. The costs for
the two can be compared so that, if possible, the best approach (cooling or banking) can be
chosen.
Cc = cold-start cost (MBtu)
F = fuel cost
Cf= fixed cost (includes crew expense, maintenance expenses) (in R)
α = thermal time constant for the unit
t = time (h) the unit was cooled
Start-up cost when banking = Ct x t x F+Cf
Where

Ct = cost (MBtu/h) of maintaining unit at operating temperature

Up to a certain number of hours, the cost of banking will be less than the cost of cooling, as is
illustrated in Figure 5.3.Finally, the capacity limits of thermal units may change frequently,
due to maintenance or unscheduled outages of various equipment in the plant; this must also
be taken
Other Constraints
Hydro-Constraints
Unit commitment cannot be completely separated from the scheduling of hydro-units. In this
text, we will assume that the hydrothermal scheduling (or “coordination”) problem can be
separated from the unit commitment problem. We, of course, cannot assert flatly that our
treatment in this fashion will always
result in an optimal solution.

Hydro-Constraints

www.Vidyarthiplus.com
 www.Vidyarthiplus.com

Must Run
Some units are given a must-run status during certain times of the year for reason of voltage
support on the transmission network or for such purposes as supply of steam for uses outside
the steam plant itself.

Fuel Constraints
We will treat the “fuel scheduling” problem system in which some units have limited fuel, or
else have constraints that require them to burn a specified amount of fuel in a given time,
presents a most challenging unit commitment problem.

Unit Commitment Solution Methods

The commitment problem can be very difficult. As a theoretical exercise, let us postulate the
following situation.
1. We must establish a loading pattern for M periods.
2. We have N units to commit and dispatch.
3. The M load levels and operating limits on the N units are such that any one unit can
supply the individual loads and that any combination of units can also supply the
loads.
Next, assume we are going to establish the commitment by enumeration (brute force). The
total number of combinations we need to try each hour is,

C (N, 1) + C (N,2) + ... + C(N, N - 1) + C ( N , N ) = 2N – 1-----------------------------------(18)

Where C (N, j) is the combination of N items taken j at a time. That is,

-----------------------------------------(19)
For the total period of M intervals, the maximum number of possible combinations is (2N -
l)M, which can become a horrid number to think about.
For example, take a 24-h period (e.g., 24 one-hour intervals) and consider systems with 5, 10,
24
20, and 40 units. The value of (2N - 1) becomes the following.

www.Vidyarthiplus.com
 www.Vidyarthiplus.com

These very large numbers are the upper bounds for the number of enumerations required.
Fortunately, the constraints on the units and the load-capacity relationships of typical utility
systems are such that we do not approach these large numbers. Nevertheless, the real
practical barrier in the optimized unit commitment problem is the high dimensionality of the
possible solution space. The most talked-about techniques for the solution of the unit
commitment problem are:

1. Priority-list schemes,
2. Dynamic programming (DP),
3. Lagrange relation (LR).

4. Derive the Priority-List Method for unit commitment solution:

The simplest unit commitment solution method consists of creating a priority list of
units. As we saw in Example 5B, a simple shut-down rule or priority-list scheme could be
obtained after an exhaustive enumeration of all unit combinations at each load level. The
priority list of Example 5B could be obtained in a much simpler manner by noting the full-
load average production cost of each unit, where the full-load average production cost is
simply the net heat rate at full load multiplied by the fuel cost.

Priority List Method:

Priority list method is the simplest unit commitment solution which consists of creating a
priority list of units.
Full load average production cost= Net heat rate at full load X Fuel
cost Assumptions:
1. No load cost is zero
2. Unit input-output characteristics are linear between zero output and full load

3. Start up costs are a fixed amount

4. Ignore minimum up time and minimum down
time Steps to be followed
1. Determine the full load average production cost for each units
2. Form priority order based on average production cost
3. Commit number of units corresponding to the priority order
4. Alculate PG1, PG2 ………….PGN from economic dispatch problem for the feasible
combinations only
5. For the load curve shown
Assume load is dropping or decreasing, determine whether dropping the next unit will supply

www.Vidyarthiplus.com
 www.Vidyarthiplus.com

generation & spinning reserve.

If not, continue as it is
If yes, go to the next step
6. Determine the number of hours H, before the unit will be needed again.
7. Check H< minimum shut down time.
If not, go to the last step
If yes, go to the next step
8. Calculate two costs
1. Sumof hourly production for the next H hours with the unit up
2. Recalculate the same for the unit down + start up cost for either cooling or banking
9. Repeat the procedure until the priority
list Merits:
1. No need to go for N combinations
2. Take only one constraint
3. Ignore the minimum up time & down time
4. Complication reduced
Demerits:
1. Start up cost are fixed amount
2. No load costs are not considered.

5. Dynamic-Programming Solution
Dynamic programming has many advantages over the enumeration scheme, the chief
advantage being a reduction in the dimensionality of the problem. Suppose we have found
units in a system and any combination of them could serve the (single) load. There would be
a maximum of 24 - 1 = 15 combinations to test. However, if a strict priority order is imposed,
there are only four combinations to try:
Priority 1 unit
Priority 1 unit + Priority 2 unit
Priority 1 unit + Priority 2 unit + Priority 3 unit
Priority 1 unit + Priority 2 unit + Priority 3 unit + Priority 4 unit

The imposition of a priority list arranged in order of the full-load averagecost rate would
result in a theoretically correct dispatch and commitment only if:

1. No load costs are zero.

2. Unit input-output characteristics are linear between zero output and full load.
3. There are no other restrictions.

www.Vidyarthiplus.com
 www.Vidyarthiplus.com

4. Start-up costs are a fixed amount.

In the dynamic-programming approach that follows, we assume that:

1. A state consists of an array of units with specified units operating and
2. The start-up cost of a unit is independent of the time it has been off-line
3. There are no costs for shutting down a unit.
4. There is a strict priority order, and in each interval a specified minimum the rest
off-line. (i.e., it is a fixed amount).amount of capacity must be operating.
A feasible state is one in which the committed units can supply the required load and that
meets the minimum amount of capacity each period.

Forward DP Approach
One could set up a dynamic-programming algorithm to run backward in time starting
from the final hour to be studied, back to the initial hour. Conversely, one could set up the
algorithm to run forward in time from the initial hour to the final hour. The forward approach
has distinct advantages in solving generator unit commitment. For example, if the start-up
cost of a unit is a function of the time it has been off-line (i.e., its temperature), then a
forward dynamic-program approach is more suitable since the previous history of the
unit can be computed at each stage. There are other practical reasons for going forward. The
initial conditions are easily specified and the computations can go forward in time as long as
required. A forward dynamic-programming algorithm is shown by the flowchart

The recursive algorithm to compute the minimum cost in hour K with combinati
Fcost(K,I)= min[Pcost(K,I)+Scost(K-1,L:K,I)+Fcost(K-1,L)] ---------------------------------- (20)

Where
Fcost(K, I ) = least total cost to arrive at state ( K , I )
Pcost(KI, ) = production cost for state ( K ,I )
Scost(K - 1, L: K , I)= transition cost from state (K - 1, L) to state ( K , I )

State (K, 1) is the Zth combination in hour K. For the forward dynamic programming
approach, we define a strategy as the transition, or path, from one state at a given hour to a
state at the next hour.
Note that two new variables, X and N, have been introduced in Figure 2.11
X = number of states to search each period
N = number of strategies, or paths, to save at each step
These variables allow control of the computational effort (see below Figure).For complete
n
enumeration, the maximum number of the value of X or N is 2 – 1

www.Vidyarthiplus.com
 www.Vidyarthiplus.com

Compute the minimum cost

www.Vidyarthiplus.com
 www.Vidyarthiplus.com

Figure: Forward DP Approach

www.Vidyarthiplus.com
 www.Vidyarthiplus.com

Example:2.5
The costs of two units at the busses connected through a transmission line are (with P1and P2
in MW): IC1=15+0.125 P1; IC2=20+0.05 P2, If 125 MW is transmitted from unit-1 to the
load at bus-2, at which the unit-2 is present, a line loss of 15.625 MW is incurred. Find the
required generation for each of the units and the power received by the load when the system
lambda is Rs.24.0 per MWHr. Use Penalty Factor method.
Solution:
With unit-2 not contributing to the line loss, it is due to the unit-1 alone, and hence,

2 2 -3 -1
DPL/dP2 = ITL2 =0; where, PL=B11P1 ; i.e., B11= PL/ P1 = 15.625/1252 = 10 MW
-3 2 -3
Thus, PL=10 P1 so that dPL/dP1= ITL1 = 2(10 ) P1 MW

Hence we have,

IC1 = 15+0.125 P1 = λ (1-ITL1) = 24 {1 - 2(10-3) P1} and

IC2 = 20+0.05 P2 = λ (1-ITL2) = λ = 24

Solving, we get, P1=52 MW and P2= 80 MW.

Total loss = Total Generation – Total Load = (P1+P2) – PLoad

www.Vidyarthiplus.com
www.Vidyarthiplus.com

www.Vidyarthiplus.com