AI-Based Scheduling Models, Optimization, and Prediction for Hydropower Generation: Opportunities, Issues, and Future Directions

Abstract

Hydropower is the most prevalent source of renewable energy production worldwide. As the global demand for robust and ecologically sustainable energy production increases, developing and enhancing the current energy production processes is essential. In the past decade, machine learning has contributed significantly to various fields, and hydropower is no exception. All three horizons of hydropower models could benefit from machine learning: short-term, medium-term, and long-term. Currently, dynamic programming is used in the majority of hydropower scheduling models. In this paper, we review the present state of the hydropower scheduling problem as well as the development of machine learning as a type of optimization problem and prediction tool. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first survey article that provides a comprehensive overview of machine learning and artificial intelligence applications in the hydroelectric power industry for scheduling, optimization, and prediction.