| The hydropower unit commitment problem is a complex decision-making process involving the integrated scheduling of generators in a hydropower system over several periods. Mathematically, it is characterized as a large scale, nonlinear, nonconvex, high dimensional optimization problem. For the short-term unit commitment problem, such as daily scheduling of generators, it may be necessary to execute the unit commitment model in real-time. Solving complex unit commitment problems in real-time over several integrated projects in a river basin has been a challenging task.;To demonstrate the capabilities of the DSS for optimal basin-wide scheduling of hydropower units, a case study is carried out on the hydropower system of the Lower Colorado River Basin. This case study demonstrates the capabilities of optimal unit scheduling in satisfying the many operational constraints while improving basin-wide efficiency. The case study shows that a 1.8% increase in average basin operating efficiency is obtained which results in an estimated increase in revenues of more than 2.5 million U.S. dollars per year.;A DSS is presented herein for optimal short-term unit commitment in hydropower systems. The DSS consists of three main components: a database management system (DBMS), a model base management system (MBMS), and a dialog generation and management system (DGMS). Reclamation Alternative Modular SCADA (RAMS), a replacement for the traditional SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) system, is utilized as a DBMS. The MBMS is developed using three different optimization models: mixed integer programming (MIP), combined mixed integer programming, and dynamic programming (DP). The objective of the optimization models is to maximize basin operating efficiency subject to two categories of constraints: (1) plant constraints on total generation requirements, generation shape requirements, and spinning reserve; and (2) operational restrictions on rough zone avoidance, minimum up and down time requirements and unit outage mode. The DGMS completes the DSS by facilitating user and model interaction using the RAMS application builder under the OpenVMS environment. |
