Hydro Power Reservoir Aggregation via Genetic Algorithms

Abstract

Electrical power systems with a high share of hydro power in their generation portfolio tend to display distinct behavior. Low generation cost and the possibility of peak shaving create a high amount of flexibility. However, stochastic influences such as precipitation and external market effects create uncertainty and thus establish a wide range of potential outcomes. Therefore, optimal generation scheduling is a key factor to successful operation of hydro power dominated systems. This paper aims to bridge the gap between scheduling on large-scale (e.g., national) and small scale (e.g., a single river basin) levels, by applying a multi-objective master/sub-problem framework supported by genetic algorithms. A real-life case study from southern Norway is used to assess the validity of the method and give a proof of concept. The introduced method can be applied to efficiently integrate complex stochastic sub-models into Virtual Power Plants and thus reduce the computational complexity of large-scale models whilst minimizing the loss of information.

Keywords

• hydro power
• reservoir aggregation
• scheduling
• evolutionary algorithm
• genetic algorithm