Unit Commitment and Economic Load

Dispatch
1

Outline
Characteristics of thermal units
Characteristics of hydro units
Unit commitment
Economic Load Dispatch (ELD)
ELD using Lambda Iteration Technique
ELD Considering Transmission Loss
Penalty Factor

Operating (I/O) Characteristics of thermal

Units
2

fuel Input (h)

or fuel cost (
f)

Output power, Pg (MW)

Pg min
Pg max
The curve can be represented by a polynomial of nth order i. e.
h=a0+a1p+a2p2+a3p3++anpn Mbtu/hr (i)
For mathematical simplicity, it is represented by a quadratic equation (i.e second
order polynomial) as:
h=a0+a1p+a2p2 Mbtu/hr (ii)
And the fuel cost, F = H x fuel cost
f =(a0+a1p+a2p2)x fuel cost Rs./hr (iii)

Incremental Characteristics of thermal Units

3

dH/dP in
Mbtu/MWhr or
dF/dP in
Rs/MWhr
Output power, Pg (MW)

The incremental heat rate curve for 2 nd order i-o characteristics is

represented by a straight line as:
dh/dp=a1+a2p Mbtu/MWhr
(iv) :derivative of equation (ii)
And the incremental fuel cost, dF/dp = Hx fuel cost
df/dP =(a1+a2p)xfuel cost MRs./MWhr (v) :derivative of equation
(iii)

I O Characteristics of hydro plant

4

The power output varies from minimum to

rated load proportionally and above rated
load discharge increases rapidly due to fall
in efficiency.
3
Q in m /s

Pg=9.81Q.H.

H3
H2
H1

Pg min

Pg rated

H3<H2<H
1

Pg in MW

Incremental Water Characteristics

H3 <H2<H1
5

H3

Discharge
rate, dQ/dP

H2
H1

Pg
Pg min

Pg

Pg rated

Incremental water rate is constant for different output power up to rated power and
increases beyond rated power due to fall in efficiency.

Thus, for hydropower plant, theoretically it has no difference to run at full load or
intermediate load economically.

Unit Commitment (UC)

6

UC is solve to answer this question: Given

that there are number of subsets of the
complete set of N generating units that
would satisfy the expected demand, which
of these subsets should be used in order
to provide the minimum operating cost?
The problem of UC is to decide which units
to interconnect over the next T hours,
where T is more commonly 24 or 48 hours,
or even 1 week.

UC example of 3 unit thermal plant

7

Data for UC problem for a 3 unit

thermal system are given below.
Uni Min Ma I-O
t
x
characteristics
MW M
( H in Mbtu/hr)
W
1

150

60
0

H1=510+7.2P1+0.001
42P12

100

40
0

H2=310+7.85P2+0.00
142P22

50

20 H3=78+7.9P3+0.0014
2P32
0
Fuel costs for unit 1,2 and 3 are

MU 1.1, 1.0 and 1.2 respectively.

Total
load
120
0
MW
500
MW

4 pm

4 am

Time o
4 pm day

Typical peak valley load

curve

Possible unit combinations and dispatches

for a load of 550 MW
8

Unit Unit Unit Max Min P1

P2
P3
F1
1
2
3
Gen, Gen, from from from MU
MW MW ELD ELD ELD

F2
MU

F3
MU

Total
cost
MU

Off

Off

Off

Infeasible

Off

Off

On

200

50

Infeasible

Off

On

Off

400

100

Infeasible

Off

On

On

600

150

400

150

On

Off

Off

600

150

550

5389 0

5389

On

Off

On

800

200

500

50

4911 0

586

5497

On

On

Off

1000

250

295

255

3030 2440 0

5471

On

On

On

1200

300

267

233

50

2787 2244 586

5617

3760 1658 5418

The most favorable combination is to turn unit 1 and to turn units 2 and 3 off based on
the least cost operation.

Load,
MW

Optimum combination
Unit 1

Unit 2

Unit 3

1200

On

On

On

1150

On

On

On

1100

On

On

On

1050

On

On

On

1000

On

On

Off

950

On

On

Off

900

On

On

Off

850

On

On

Off

800

On

On

Off

750

On

On

Off

700

On

On

Off

650

On

On

Off

600

On

Off

Off

550

On

Off

Off

Shut down rule for

load ranging fro 500
to 1200 MW:
1.For load more than
1000 MW, run all the
units.
2.For load more than
600 MW to 1000 MW,
run unit 1 and 2.
3.For load less than 600
MW, run unit 1 only.
The unit commitment
schedule with optimum
combination of units for
various loads is as

10

Constraints in UC
problem(1)

Power Balance (we already considered)

Total generation=total load plus losses

Spinning Reserve

Total generation available from units already

synchronized minus present load and losses
Should be arranged such that loss of one or more unit
does not cause too far a drop in system frequency
Must be certain percentage of forecasted peak demand or
equal to capacity of the largest unit (US reliability council)
Must be spread over geographically to avoid bottling of
reserve and to allow various regions to run as islands if
they are to be isolated

11

Constraints in UC
problem(2)

Thermal unit constraints

Hydro constraints

Minimum up time
Minimum down time
Fuel
crew
Hydro thermal coordination

Must run constraints

Certain units are given Must run status for

voltage support or steam supply outside the plant

Economic Load Dispatch (1)

12

A constrained optimization problem

Objective is to minimize the total operating cost ( in
case of thermal plants)
Constraints are the power balance equation and
other operational restrictions as stated
Decision variables are the power dispatches from
each generator
Determines the load to be shared by the to be
committed generators so that the total load plus
losses are met (power balance constraint) at
minimum operating cost and also satisfies other
operational constraints as specified

Economic Load Dispatch (ELD) (2)

13

Assumptions:

The generators to be committed are known before the

solution of ELD.
Considers only the real power generations.
Mathematical Statement of ELD problem:
Minimize total generation cost; F= fi
Subject to a number of constraints.
These constrains are dealt with one by one.

Economic Load Dispatch (ELD) (3)

14

The first constraint could be:

Pi = D, where network loss is neglected

Considering the ELD problem in Lagrangian function is given by:

L = fi + (D-Pi )
L / Pi f i / Pi (0 1) 0
Applying the condition as
L/ pi = 0 & L/ = 0

We get

f i / Pi Incremental cos t
and
NG

L / 0 1( D Pi )
i 1

NG

or , D Pi 0
i 1

It means
fi must be available in terms of Pi
for the minimum generation cost, the incremental cost of individual generators
should be equal

Solution of ELD problem

Assuming all generation cost characteristics can be expressed in

Quadratic equation
fi = ai P

+ bi Pi +ci

Applying ELD conditions as

fi/ Pi = ai Pi + bi = : N equations for N generating units

Pgi D = 0
: one equality constraint

N+1 linear equations and same number of unknowns can be

solved (i.e. P1, P2,,PN and )

Example-1

2
The cost characteristics
of20the
two
are given by;
C1
Pg1
0.01generators
Pg1

C 2 25 Pg 2 0.02 Pg 2

Determines the most economical generation schedules if the

15
demand is 300 MW. Neglect the transmission losses.

Solution:

C1
20 0.02 Pg1
Pg1
C2
25 0.04 Pg 2
Pg 2
Pg1 50 1000 &
Pg 2 25 625
When load is 300 MW
Pg1 Pg 2 300

16

or , 50 1000 25 625 300

or , 75 1925
or , 25.66
Pg1 283.33 MW , Pg 2 16.667 MW

General Expression for Generator Power Output (1)

Assumptions:
all the cost characteristics are represented
by quadratic equations
there are no other constraints apart from
the load balance constraint.

The procedures are as follows;

Let us assume the cost function of ith
generators are given as;
2

fi 0.5ai Pi bi Pi ci

differentiating above equation with

f i to
/ PPi
i ai .Pi bi
respect

General Expression for Generator Power Output

(2)

or , Pi ( bi ) / ai
NG

or , D ( bi ) / ai 0
i 1

bi
or ,
D
ai
i 1
NG

bi

or , D
i 1 a i
i 1 a i
NG

NG

NG
bi
1
or , D
i 1 a i
i 1 a i
NG

bi
D
i 1 a i
or , NG
1

i 1 a i
NG

and ,

Pi

bi
D
i 1 a i
NG
1

i 1 a i
NG

b /a
i

Consideration of generator maximum and

minimum power limit
19

Generators have limits on the minimum and maximum

amount of power they can produce
Typically the minimum limit is not zero.
Because of varying system economics usually many
generators in a system are operated at their maximum
MW limits: Base load generators are at their maximum
limits except during the off-peak.
The necessary condition can be modified by taking
generator max
dFi & min power limit as
dPi

............ forPi min Pi Pi max

Set Pi = Plimit (i.e. Pi = Pimax or Pi =Pimin) for those generators

which crosses their max and min limits.

Example-2
20

a.

b.

Determine the most economic

operating points for these three
units to meet a load of 850 MW
without considering
transmission losses.
Repeat the problem when the
fuel cost for unit 1 decreases to
49.5 MRs/Mbtu

Uni Min
t
MW

Max
MW

I-O
Fuel
Characteristic cost
s
(H in
(MRs)
Mbtu/hr)

600

150

510+7.2P1+
0.00142P22

60.5

100

400

310+7.8P2+
0.00194P22

55

50

200

78+7.97P3+
0.00482P32

55

Lambda iteration method

Suppose
the
cost
characteristics
is
expressed other than quadratic, for example

a cubic or higher order polynomial

exponential function
combination of exponential & polynomial

In this case some iterative method is used

One such method is lambda iteration
method
The idea behind the method is;

If generation is greater than demand , is to be

reduced.
If generation is smaller than demand , is to be

Steps to be followed for iteration

method.

2.

Assume a suitable value of

Calculate P gi

3.

Calculate = P

1.

4.
5.

6.

gi

PD

If is within the tolerance, stop

If > 0 ( P gi > PD) , decrease & go to
step 2
If < 0 ( P gi < PD) , increase & go to
step 2

Lambda Iteration Method- Alternative

Algorithm
23

Pick L and H such that

m

L
P
(

Gi ) PD 0
i 1

H
P
(

Gi ) PD 0
i 1

H L Do

While

M ( H L ) / 2
If

M
H
M
P
(

0
Then

Gi
D
i 1

Else L M
End While

Lambda-Iteration Example
24

Consider a three generator system with

IC1 ( PG1 ) 15 0.02 PG1
$/MWh
IC2 ( PG 2 ) 20 0.01PG 2

$/MWh

IC3 ( PG 3 ) 18 0.025PG 3

$/MWh

and with constraint PG1 PG 2 PG 3 1000 MW

Rewriting generation as a function of , PGi ( ),
we have

15
PG1 ( )
0.02
18
PG 3 ( )
0.025

20
PG 2 ( )
0.01

25

Lambda-Iteration Example,
contd
Pick L so

L
P
(

Gi ) 1000 0 and
i=1
m

H
P
(

Gi ) 1000 0
i=1

Try

20 then

PGi (20) 1000

i 1

15 20 18

1000 670 MW
0.02
0.01 0.025
Try H 30 then

PGi (30) 1000

i 1

1230 MW

26

Lambda-Iteration Example,
contd
Pick convergence tolerance 0.05 $/MWh

Then iterate since H L 0.05

M ( H L ) / 2 25
Then since

H
P
(25)

1000

280
we
set

25
Gi
i 1

Since 25 20 0.05

M (25 20) / 2 22.5

m

L
P
(22.5)

1000

195
we
set

22.5
Gi
i 1

27

Lambda-Iteration Example,
contd
Continue iterating until H L 0.05
*

The solution value of , , is 23.53 $/MWh

Once * is known we can calculate the PGi
23.53 15
PG1 (23.5)
426 MW
0.02
23.53 20
PG 2 (23.5)
353 MW
0.01
23.53 18
PG 3 (23.5)
221 MW
0.025

28

Lambda-Iteration with Gen

Limits
In the lambda-iteration method the limits are taken
into account when calculating PGi ( ) :
if calculated production for PGi PGi ,max
then set PGi ( ) PGi ,max
if calculated production for PGi PGi ,min
then set PGi ( ) PGi ,min

Lambda-Iteration Gen Limit

Example
29

In the previous three generator example assume

the same cost characteristics but also with limits
0 PG1 300 MW

100 PG 2 500 MW

200 PG 3 600 MW
With limits we get:
m

PGi (20) 1000

i 1

PG1 (20) PG 2 (20) PG 3 (20) 1000

250 100 200 1000

450 MW (compared to 670MW)

m

PGi (30) 1000

i 1

300 500 480 1000 280 MW

Lambda-Iteration Limit
Example,contd
30

Again we continue iterating until the convergence

condition is satisfied.
With limits the final solution of , is 24.43 $/MWh
(compared to 23.53 $/MWh without limits).
Maximum limits will always cause to either increase
or remain the same.
Final solution is:
PG1 (24.43) 300 MW (at maximum limit)
PG 2 (24.43) 443 MW
PG 3 (24.43) 257 MW

Economic Load Dispatch

considering network losses
31

If the network loss is included ,Minimize total cost

Subject to
Pgi= Pd+ Plosses
Where,
Pd
= power demand
Plosses = power loss in the system
Ng
Lagrangian function
for ELD problem Ng

L fi Pgi Pd Ploss Pgi

i 1
i 1

For minimum cost of power generation the partial

derivatives of above equation w.r.t. power generated
by individual generators and partial derivatives w.r.t.

 Ploss
L
fi

1 0
i.e.
Pgi Pgi
Pgi

fi
0

Pgi
Henc
e,
Where,

32

Ploss
1 Pgi

fi
Pgi

1
fi
i

Pgi
Ploss
1 Pgi

1
i is arbitrary penalty function for loss

Ploss
1

Pgi

If ith generator contribute more loss than jth

generator then
Ploss
Ploss
Pgi

Or,

Hence,

>

Pgj

1
1

Ploss
Ploss
1
1
Pgi
Pgj

i j

is greater for the generator which contribute

more losses.

The generator which is responsible for more

losses contribute less power than without
33 considering losses.

34

Nature of Loss Penalty

Factor

If the increase in power generation of unit i

results in increase in loss, than incremental
transmission loss is said to be positive. The
penalty factor in this case is greater than unity.

If the increase in power generation of unit i

results in decrease in loss, than incremental
transmission loss is said to be negative. The
penalty factor in this case is less than unity.

ELD Procedure Considering Loss (1)

35

When Cost function is quadratic

Steps
1. Assume suitable value of power generation P gi

2. Calculate

3. Compute
Cost function,

and power loss P loss

and Pgi

ai 2
f i Pgi bi Pg i ci
2
fi
ai Pgi bi
Pgi

Ploss
1

Pgi

ELD Procedure Considering Loss (2)

fi
i
i ai Pgi bi
Pgi

fi

i
ai Pgi bi
Pgi
where,

ai ai i

bi bi i

Pd Pd Ploss

Pd i

i 1 a
i
Ng

Ng

i 1 ai

bi
Pgi

ai

36

ELD Procedure Considering Loss (3)

37

4. Apply suitable convergence criteria

fi
i
for i 1 to N g is nearly equal
Pgi

or
Pi

k 1

Pi

or

k 1 k
or
Ploss

k 1

Pl oss

5. If the above condition is satisfied stop otherwise go to

step two

ELD Procedure Considering Loss (4)

Cost function quadratic considering generator limit

1.

Assume suitable value of generation power Pgi

2.

Calculate

i and power loss P

3.

Compute and Pgi

Cost function,

loss

1
i =
Ploss
1 Pgi

fi

ai
2
Pgi bi Pg i ci
2

fi
ai Pgi bi
Pgi
38

ELD Procedure Considering Loss (5)

39

fi
i
i ai Pgi bi
Pgi

fi

i
ai Pgi bi
Pgi
where,

ai ai i

bi bi i

Pd Pd Ploss

Pd i

i 1 a
i
Ng

Ng

i 1 ai

bi
Pgi

ai

ELD Procedure Considering Loss (6)

4. If k generators crosses their minimum
and maximum limit then set the
generation
schedule
of
these
k
generators to their respective minimum
and maximum limiting value,
Now, effective number of generator
K

j
=Ng=Ng-K
Pd Pd Ploss Plim it
j 1

And new demand

40

ELD Procedure Considering Loss (6)

41

5. Apply suitable convergence criteria

i

fi
for i 1 to N g is nearly equal
Pgi
or
Pi

k 1

Pi

or

k 1 k
or
Ploss

k 1

Pl oss

6. If the above condition is satisfied stop

otherwise go to step two

ELD Procedure Considering Loss using Lambda

Iteration Method (When Cost function is nonquadratic)

1. Assume suitable value of

2. Assumesuitable
value of power generation
i
Pgi
1
i = power
fi
Ploss
3. Calculate and
loss
P
loss
1

i
Pgi

Pgi
Ng

Pgi Pd

4.IfCalculate
Pgi the
by using
the relation
tolerable
range stop
is within
go to step six
5.otherwise
Check convergence
6.If is positive decrease or if
is
42 negative increase and go to step 3.
11