The optimum unit commitment is to determine an optimal scheme which can minimize the system operating cost during a period while the load demand, operation constrains of the individual unit are simultaneously satisfied. Since it is characterized as a nonlinear, large scale, discrete, mixed-integer combinatorial optimization problem with constrains, it is always hard to find out the theoretical optimal solution. In this paper, a method combining the priority-order with dynamic comparison is brought out to obtain an engineering optimal solution, and is validated in a power plant composed of three 200MW and two 300MW units. Through simulating the on-line running datum from the DCS system in the power plant, the operating cost curves are obtained in different units, startup/shut-down mode and load demand. According to these curves, an optimum unit commitment model is established based on equal incremental rate principle principle. Make target function be minimum gross coal consumption, the results show that compared with the duty-chief-mode that allocates the load based on operators’ experience, the units’ mean gross coal consumption rate is reduced about 0.5g/(kW·h) when operating by this unit commitment model, and its economic profit is far more than the load economic allocation model that doesn’t considered the units’ start-up/shut-down.
Unit commitment in achieving low carbon smart grid environment with virtual power plant
