Computational optimization applied in electrical power market

Advanced computational optimization techniques developed recently greatly contribute to the cost reduction and automatic revolution in the electrical power market. As a result, Midwest ISO is the winner of the Edelman Award in 2011. The presentation is titled  Unlocks Billions in Savings through the Application of O.R. to Energy and Ancillary Services Markets . Midwest ISO developed mixed integer linear programming model and solved it by adding specific cuts.

Also recently NSF funded a project called "Stochastic optimization and coordination control of demand response for enhancing the secure and economic operation of power systems". The PI is Lei Wu . The detailed project description is shown below

The objective of this research is to explore novel demand response management models and robust solutions for both Aggregators of Retail Consumers and Independent System Operators, which enable demand response to become a resource for providing ancillary services and maintaining system security. The approach is to (1) establish an adaptive price-sensitive load forecasting model; (2) propose a risk-constrained stochastic demand response scheduling model for Aggregators of Retail Consumers; (3) construct a two-stage security-constrained stochastic scheduling model for Independent System Operators.

Intellectual Merit: The demand response integration will be analyzed and quantified for minimizing daily operating costs, satisfying hourly security constraints, and accommodating uncertainties. This project is of practical importance since demand response is being implemented worldwide, and consumers will have opportunities to make distinctive contributions to energy security and environmental improvements in power system operation. The project team is qualified to perform the study and the research and educational facilities at Clarkson and Illinois Institute of Technology are adequate.

Broader Impacts: This project has profound impacts with the increasing deployment of distributed generations and plug-in hybrid vehicles. The proposed integrated research and educational activities and the new course development on modern power system operation and control in smart grid will attract more students to seek careers in power engineering. Underrepresented students will be recruited to participate in various tasks of this research. This project will increase public awareness and understanding of the complexity of power system operation among ratepayers, regulators, politicians, utility executives, market participants, and electricity consumers.