Economic Optimisation of Power system Operation

The extensive interconnection of power systems has made the operation of a power
system, in the most economic way, a complex subject. It is intended here only to
outline the problem and indicate the types of approaches needed.
Optimisation can be considered in a number of different ways according to the
timescale involved (hourly, daily, yearly etc.). The main considerations are:
- Accurate load forecasting
- Economic scheduling of generators
- Economic loading of online generators
Accurate load forecasting
As already discussed, some form of control usually assists the forecasting of system
loads either directly or through tariff schemes.
Economic scheduling of generator loads
To determine the economic distribution of load between the various generating units,
the variable operating costs of the unit must be expressed in terms or its power output.
Let F
i
(P
i
) be the total operating cost per hour (including fuel) of a unit as a function of
output power P
i
of the unit i. It can be shown that the most economic operation of a
system (ignoring transmission loss) is when all the incremental costs of each power
unit are identical. The incremental cost
i
of a unit i is given by:
i
i i
i
P
P F
c
c
=
) (
(1)
This can be explained by considering a two unit system. A change in overall cost for
running the system F
total
will occur if the output powers of the two units change and
this is given by
2 2 1 1 2
2
2 2
1
1
1 1
) ( ) (
P P P
P
P F
P
P
P F
F
total
A + A = A
c
c
+ A
c
c
= A (2)
where P
i
is the change in unit i output power. If the total output power remains
unchanged then P P P A = A = A
2 1
giving
P F
total
A = A ) (
2 1
(3)
Thus if the incremental costs are not identical then a reduction in overall costs can
always be achieved (F
total
negative) by adjusting the units loading (P non-zero but
positive or negative). An important consequence of this is that each unit will not
necessarily be operating at its most efficient output power. The following are typical
generator unit parameters.
Typical generator F costs in per pu of two machines as a function of their output
power are:
/hr 96 . 0 5 . 1 ) (
2
1
1 1
+ ~ P P F (4)
/hr 64 . 0 ) (
2
2
2 2 2
+ + ~ P P P F (5)
The cost curves are depicted in Figure 1.
Typical cost curves
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
P /pu
F
/

/
h
r
Figure 1 Running cost of each unit as a function of their power output
The Efficiency of the unit is then given by Output Power divided by cost F or
Phr/
96 . 0
5 . 1
1
Efficiency
1
1
1
P
P +
= (6)
Phr/
64 . 0
1
1
Efficiency
2
2
2
P
P + +
= (7)
These are depicted in Figure 2 have a maxima at 0.8 pu which is quite typical.
1
2
Efficiency curve
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
0.4
0.45
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
P /pu
E
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y
/
P
h
r
/

Figure 2. Efficiency of each unit as a function of their outputs

On the other hand the incremental cost
P
F
c
c
is given by
/Phr 3
1 1
P =
(8)
/Phr 1 2
2 2
+ = P
(9)
If the total output power P
total
is 2 Pu then as P
2
=P
total
-P
1
=2-P
1
then equation (9)
becomes
/Phr 1 2 4
1 2
+ = P
(10)
The incremental cost curves as a function of Unit 1 output are then as given in Figure
3.
1
2
Incremental cost curve againt unit 1 power output
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
P
1
/pu
F
/

/
P
h
r
Figure 3 Incremental cost curves as a function of Unit 1 output
In the two unit system the most efficient operating point is where the two incremental
cost curves intersect. Which is when both machines are output power of 1 pu . If unit
1 has an output less than 1 pu then increasing its load at the expense of Unit 2 will
decrease the overall running costs as
1
<
2.
However, if machine unit 1 has an output
greater than 1 pu then unit 2 can increase its load at the expense of unit 1 to decrease
the overall running costs as
1
>
2.
The total system cost curve F
1
+F
2
as a function of
Unit 1 output power is given in Figure 4. showing the minimum at 1 pu
Total cost curve
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
P
1
pu
F
/

/
h
r
Figure 4. Total cost of 2 unit system as a function of unit 1 output
1
2
Example
The incremental costs in pounds per Megawatthour for a two unit plant is:-
1
1 1
1
0.004 4.0
G
G
f
P
P

c
= = +
c
2
2 2
2
0.006 3.2
G
G
f
P
P

c
= = +
c
The total load varies from 200-1200 MW. Each machine can only operate at an output
between 100-600 MW. Find the allocation of load between the units for minimum
costs for the full range of loads.
Solution:
First consider the minimum loading condition (200 MW total or 100 MW each). The
incremental costs are:
1
4.4 per MW hour =
2
3.8 per MW hour =
Thus initially, for low loads increasing from minimum load, Unit 2 can be
preferentially loaded up until its units cost equals that of unit 1. The minimum load
where the two units incremental costs are equal will be when
1 2
4.4 per MW hour = = which is when:
1 2 1 2
100 MW, 200 MW and 300 MW
G G total G G
P P P P P = = = + =
At the maximum loading (1200 MW or 600 MW each) the incremental costs are:
1
6.4 per MW hour =
2
6.8 per MW hour =
Thus initially as the total load is reduced from the maximum Unit 1 should be
preferentially loaded (kept at 600 MW) until both incremental costs are the same (i.e.
1 2
6.4 per MW hour = = ) and this occurs when
1 2 1 2
600 MW, 533 MW and 1133 MW
G G total G G
P P P P P = = = + =
For total loads between 300 MW-1133 MW the two units can operate at the optimum
condition
1 2
= Thus we can derive the loading for each of the units in the following
way:
1 2 1 2
,
total G G
P P P = = +
Thus
1 2
1 1
1
2
0.004 4 0.006 3.2
0.004 4 0.006( ) 3.2
0.6 80 MW
and 0.4 80 MW
G G
G total G
G total
G total
P P
P P P
P P
P P
+ = +
+ = +
=
= +
The resulting graph is: