Handling Multiple-Fuel Options in Economic Dispatch of Thermal Power Plants Through a Tight Model Applying Indicator Variables

Thermal power plants play a central role in present power systems because of their high efficiency, fast startup capability, and flexibility to integrate the variability of renewable generations. These thermal units can utilize various fuels, including coal, natural gas, and oil, which enhances both...

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Main Author: Hossein Sharifzadeh
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-01-01
Series:International Transactions on Electrical Energy Systems
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/etep/1572487
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author Hossein Sharifzadeh
author_facet Hossein Sharifzadeh
author_sort Hossein Sharifzadeh
collection DOAJ
description Thermal power plants play a central role in present power systems because of their high efficiency, fast startup capability, and flexibility to integrate the variability of renewable generations. These thermal units can utilize various fuels, including coal, natural gas, and oil, which enhances both the economic performance and security of the overall energy system. Representing the fuel cost functions of these units with multiple fuels (MFs) as binary decisions involves adding binary variables to the economic dispatch (ED) problem. The inclusion of these binary variables and nonlinear cost functions results in a complex NP-hard mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP). This paper provides another perspective on the ED, where indicator variables represent the MF options and determine which cost functions should be set to zero. Based on this perspective, the paper builds a tight model to handle the indicator variables and solve the MINLP ED. Moreover, the paper introduces an iterative solution method with a bound-tightening technique to speed up the solution process. We conducted experimental studies using eight ED case studies with MF options involving up to 1280 generating units. The optimal costs obtained from these case studies demonstrate the effectiveness of the tight model and the iterative solution method for solving the MINLP ED problem. Furthermore, the proposed approach generally outperforms earlier algorithms in terms of solution quality and robustness. Finally, the tight model can speed up the solution process by 18%–45% compared with the standard formulation in the adopted case studies.
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spelling doaj-art-c741d273af874b44a0b5f68652dd7f5a2025-02-06T00:00:02ZengWileyInternational Transactions on Electrical Energy Systems2050-70382025-01-01202510.1155/etep/1572487Handling Multiple-Fuel Options in Economic Dispatch of Thermal Power Plants Through a Tight Model Applying Indicator VariablesHossein Sharifzadeh0Department of Electrical and Computer EngineeringThermal power plants play a central role in present power systems because of their high efficiency, fast startup capability, and flexibility to integrate the variability of renewable generations. These thermal units can utilize various fuels, including coal, natural gas, and oil, which enhances both the economic performance and security of the overall energy system. Representing the fuel cost functions of these units with multiple fuels (MFs) as binary decisions involves adding binary variables to the economic dispatch (ED) problem. The inclusion of these binary variables and nonlinear cost functions results in a complex NP-hard mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP). This paper provides another perspective on the ED, where indicator variables represent the MF options and determine which cost functions should be set to zero. Based on this perspective, the paper builds a tight model to handle the indicator variables and solve the MINLP ED. Moreover, the paper introduces an iterative solution method with a bound-tightening technique to speed up the solution process. We conducted experimental studies using eight ED case studies with MF options involving up to 1280 generating units. The optimal costs obtained from these case studies demonstrate the effectiveness of the tight model and the iterative solution method for solving the MINLP ED problem. Furthermore, the proposed approach generally outperforms earlier algorithms in terms of solution quality and robustness. Finally, the tight model can speed up the solution process by 18%–45% compared with the standard formulation in the adopted case studies.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/etep/1572487
spellingShingle Hossein Sharifzadeh
Handling Multiple-Fuel Options in Economic Dispatch of Thermal Power Plants Through a Tight Model Applying Indicator Variables
International Transactions on Electrical Energy Systems
title Handling Multiple-Fuel Options in Economic Dispatch of Thermal Power Plants Through a Tight Model Applying Indicator Variables
title_full Handling Multiple-Fuel Options in Economic Dispatch of Thermal Power Plants Through a Tight Model Applying Indicator Variables
title_fullStr Handling Multiple-Fuel Options in Economic Dispatch of Thermal Power Plants Through a Tight Model Applying Indicator Variables
title_full_unstemmed Handling Multiple-Fuel Options in Economic Dispatch of Thermal Power Plants Through a Tight Model Applying Indicator Variables
title_short Handling Multiple-Fuel Options in Economic Dispatch of Thermal Power Plants Through a Tight Model Applying Indicator Variables
title_sort handling multiple fuel options in economic dispatch of thermal power plants through a tight model applying indicator variables
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/etep/1572487
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