EEL 6266

Power System Operation and Control

Chapter 5
Unit Commitment
 Load Demand Cycles

Human activity follows cycles
 systems supplying services will also experience usage cycles

transportation, communication, and electric power systems
 electric power consumption follows a daily, weekly, and
seasonal cycles

high power usage during the day and evening hours
 industrial and commercial operations and lighting loads

lower usage on the weekends

higher usage during the summer and winter
 greater temperature extremes

Load cycles create economic problems for power generation
 it is quite expensive to continuously run all generation, which
is needed to meet the peak power demands
© 2002, 2004 Florida State University EEL 6266 Power System Operation and Control 2
 Load Demand Cycles

Definition
 commitment means to turn-on a given generation unit

have the prime mover operating the unit at synchronous speed

synchronize and connect the unit to the network grid

Economics
 savings are gained by decommitting some of the generation
units when they are not need to meet the current load demand
 the engineering problem is committing enough units to meet
current and future load demands while minimizing starting and
operating costs

© 2002, 2004 Florida State University EEL 6266 Power System Operation and Control 3
 Load Demand Cycles

Example
 consider the cost for operating three generation units
Unit 1: F1(P1) = 561 + 7.92 P1 + 0.001562 P12 150 ≤ P1 ≤ 600
Unit 2: F2(P2) = 310 + 7.85 P2 + 0.00194 P22 100 ≤ P2 ≤ 400
Unit 3: F3(P3) = 93.6 + 9.56 P3 + 0.005784 P32 50 ≤ P3 ≤ 200

 what combination of units is best to supply a 550 MW load?

Unit 1

Unit 2

Unit 3

Ftotal
Max
Gen

Gen
Min

P1

P2

P3

F1

F2

F3
Off Off Off 0 0 Infeasible
Off Off On 200 50 Infeasible
Off On Off 400 100 Infeasible
Off On On 600 150 0 400 150 0 3760 1658 5418
On Off Off 600 150 550 0 0 5389 0 0 5389
On Off On 800 200 500 0 50 4911 0 586 5497
On On Off 1000 250 295 255 0 3030 2440 0 5471
On On On 1200 300 267 233 50 2787 2244 586 5617

© 2002, 2004 Florida State University EEL 6266 Power System Operation and Control 4
 Load Demand Cycles

Example
 notes:

the least expensive way to supply the generation is not with all
three units running or with any combination involving two units

the optimal commitment is to only run unit #1, the most
economic unit
 by only running the most economic unit, the load can be supplied
by that unit operating closer to its best efficiency
 if another unit is committed, both unit #1 and the other unit will be
loaded further from their best efficiency points, resulting in a
higher net cost

© 2002, 2004 Florida State University EEL 6266 Power System Operation and Control 5
 Load Demand Cycles

Daily load patterns
 consider the load demand with a simple peak-valley pattern
 in order to optimize the operation of the system

units must be shut down as load goes down

then the units must be recommitted as load goes back up
 simple approach to the solution is a simple priority list scheme
1500 MW
1150 MW Peak Load
Total Loading

1000 MW

500 MW

450 MW Min. Load

3 PM 9 PM 3 AM 9 AM 3 PM
Time of day

© 2002, 2004 Florida State University EEL 6266 Power System Operation and Control 6
 Load Demand Cycles

Example
 use a brute force technique to obtain a “shut-down rule” for the range of
loads from 1200 to 500 MW in steps of 50 MW

when load is above 1000 MW, run all three units

loading between 600 MW and 1000 MW, run units #1 & #2

loading below 600 MW, only run unit #1

Load Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3
1200 on on on
1500 MW 1150 on on on
1100 on on on
Total Loading

1050 on on on
200 MW Unit #3
1000 MW 1000 on on off
400 MW 950 on on off
Unit #2 900 on on off
850 on on off
500 MW 600 MW 800 on on off
Unit #1 750 on on off
700 on on off
650 on on off
3 PM 9 PM 3 AM 9 AM 3 PM 600 on off off
Time of day 550 on off off
500 on off off

© 2002, 2004 Florida State University EEL 6266 Power System Operation and Control 7
 Constraints in Unit Commitment

Primary constraints
 enough units are committed to supply the load economically

Spinning reserve constraints
 spinning reserve definition

the total amount of on-line, synchronized generation power
committed less the current loading and power losses supplied
 protects the network from an unexpected loss of one or more
generation units
 typical spinning reserve rules

the reserve is a given percentage of the forecasted demand

must be capable of making up the loss of the most heavily
loaded generation unit
 reserves must be spread around the system to avoid transmission
limitations (bottling) and permit parts of the system to run as
“islands”
© 2002, 2004 Florida State University EEL 6266 Power System Operation and Control 8
 Constraints in Unit Commitment

Example
 consider a power system consisting of two isolated regions

transmission tie-lines join the regions and may transfer power up
to a maximum of 550 MW in either direction

five units have been committed to supply 3090 MW of loading

Interchange
Unit Output

Generation

Load (MW)
Regional

Regional
Capacity

Spinning
Reserve
Region

(MW)

(MW)

(MW)

(MW)

(MW)
Unit
Unit
Western region
Units 1, 2 & 3

550 MW 1 1000 900 100

maximum Western 2 800 420 1740 380 1900 160
3 800 420 380 (in)
Eastern region 4 1200 1040 160 160
Eastern 1350 1190
Units 4 & 5 5 600 310 290 (out)
Total 4400 3090 3090 1310 3090

© 2002, 2004 Florida State University EEL 6266 Power System Operation and Control 9
 Constraints in Unit Commitment

Example
 verify the allocation of spinning reserves in the system

western region
 generation of largest unit: 900 MW
 available spinning reserve
• local: 760 MW; tie-line capacity: 390 MW; eastern region: 450 MW
• total: 1150 MW - load can be supplied

eastern region
 generation of largest unit: 1040 MW
 available spinning reserve
• local: 450 MW; tie-line capacity: 550 MW; western region: 700 MW
• total: 1000 MW - load can not be completely supplied

lack 40 MW of spinning reserve in the eastern region
 commit 40 MW of new generation within the eastern region

© 2002, 2004 Florida State University EEL 6266 Power System Operation and Control 10
 Constraints in Unit Commitment

Thermal unit constraints
 a thermal unit can undergo only gradual temperature changes

results in a time period of several hours to bring a unit on-line

minimum up time: it should not be turned off immediately

minimum down time: once decommitted, the minimum time
before a unit can be recommitted

crew constraint: at a multiple unit plant, there is usually only
enough personnel to start one unit at at time
 a certain amount of energy is expended to bring a unit on-line

to slowly bring up the temperature and pressure

this energy does not result in any power delivered from the unit

the energy cost is brought into the unit commitment problem as
a start-up cost

© 2002, 2004 Florida State University EEL 6266 Power System Operation and Control 11
 Constraints in Unit Commitment

Start-up costs
 the start-up cost can vary from a maximum
cold-start value to a much smaller warm-start value

warm unit: a recently turned-off unit with latent heat
that is near the normal operating temperature
 two approaches available to treating a thermal unit during its
down time

allow the boiler to cool down and then heat it back up to
operating temperature in time for a scheduled turn-on

provide enough fuel to supply sufficient energy to the boiler to
just maintain the operating temperature

© 2002, 2004 Florida State University EEL 6266 Power System Operation and Control 12
 Constraints in Unit Commitment

Start-up cost comparison
 cooling

allowing the unit to cool down
Cstart-up

start-up cost function:
cooling
− t shut − down

= H cold 1 − e α 
Ccold  F fuel + C fixed break-even
  banking point
 banking Cfixed

input sufficient energy into
the boiler to just maintain
the operating temperature

banking cost function:
0
Cbank = H bank F fuel tshut −down + C fixed 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 hr
Time-dependent start-up costs

© 2002, 2004 Florida State University EEL 6266 Power System Operation and Control 13
 Unit Commitment Solution Methods

Typical utility situation involving the commitment problem
 must establish a loading pattern for M periods
 have N generation units available to commit and dispatch

the M load levels and operating limits on the N units are such
that any one unit can supply the load demand and any
combination of units can also supply the loads

Commitment by enumeration
 a brute force method

total combinations to investigate: 2N – 1

for the total period of M intervals, the maximum number of
possible combinations is: (2N – 1)M
 example: for a 24-hour period made up of 1-hr intervals,
a 5 unit network become 6.2 × 1035 combinations

© 2002, 2004 Florida State University EEL 6266 Power System Operation and Control 14
 Unit Commitment Solution Methods

Priority-List Methods
 consist of a simple shut-down rule

obtained by an exhaustive enumeration of all unit combinations
at each load level

or obtained by noting the full-load average production cost of
each unit
 the full-load average production cost is the net heat rate at full load
multiplied by the fuel cost
 various enhancements can be made to the priority-list scheme
by the grouping of units to ensure that various constraints are
met

© 2002, 2004 Florida State University EEL 6266 Power System Operation and Control 15
 Unit Commitment Solution Methods

Typical shut-down rules
 at each hour when load is dropping, determine whether
dropping the next unit on the list leaves sufficient generation
to supply the load plus the spinning-reserve requirements

if the supply is not sufficient, keep the unit committed
 determine the number of hours before the unit is needed again

if the time is less than the minimum shut-down time for the unit,
keep it committed
 perform a cost comparison

the sum of the hourly production costs for the next number of
hours with the next unit to be dropped being committed

and the sum of the restart costs for the next unit based on the
minimum cost of cooling the unit or banking the unit

© 2002, 2004 Florida State University EEL 6266 Power System Operation and Control 16
 Unit Commitment Solution Methods

Example
 construct a priority list for the units in the first example using
the same cost equations
Unit 1: F1(P1) = 561 + 7.92 P1 + 0.001562 P12 150 ≤ P1 ≤ 600
Unit 2: F2(P2) = 310 + 7.85 P2 + 0.00194 P22 100 ≤ P2 ≤ 400
Unit 3: F3(P3) = 93.6 + 9.56 P3 + 0.005784 P32 50 ≤ P3 ≤ 200

 the full-load average production costs

Unit 1: F1(600) 600 = 9.7922
Unit 2: F2(400) 400 = 9.4010
Unit 3: F3(200) 200 = 11.1848

 a strict priority order for these units: [ 2, 1, 3 ]

© 2002, 2004 Florida State University EEL 6266 Power System Operation and Control 17
 Unit Commitment Solution Methods

Example
 the commitment scheme

ignoring minimum up/down times and start-up costs
Combination Min MW Max MW
1+2+3 300 1200
1+2 250 1000
2 100 400
 notes

this scheme does not completely parallel the shut-down
sequence described in the first example
 there unit 2 was shut down at 600 MW leaving unit 1
 here unit 1 is shut down at 400 MW leaving unit 2
 why the differences? where is the problem?

© 2002, 2004 Florida State University EEL 6266 Power System Operation and Control 18