Solution for the hydrothermal dispatch problem using Monte Carlo simulation and interior point

Abstract

Hydrothermal dispatch establishes the suitable relation between hydraulic and thermal generation with optimal operative cost in a planning period, according to generation, transmission and load restrictions; moreover, it establishes the rational and efficient use of the energetic resources in the power electric systems. Normally the hydrothermal dispatch problem has been simplified to find a solution with a reasonable computational time. The principal simplifications have been: to fit lineally the thermal functions cost, to eliminate the network restrictions, to dispatch in a unique node and to consider the load and reservoir flow in a deterministic way. This paper presents a methodology which solves the hydrothermal dispatch problem using interior point method and Monte Carlo simulation, the proposed model considers the thermal cost curves, the network restrictions and the stochastic forecasting of load and reservoirs flow, allowing to obtain probability distributions of the output variables (cost function, output power, etc).