ECE 476

Power System Analysis

Lecture 15: Power Flow Sensitivities,
Economic Dispatch

Prof. Tom Overbye

Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
[email protected]
Announcements

• Read Chapter 6, Chapter 12.4 and 12.5

• HW 7 is 6.50, 6.52, 6.59, 12.20, 12.26; due October
22 in class (no quiz)

1
Balancing Authority Areas

• An balancing authority area (use to be called

operating areas) has traditionally represented
the portion of the interconnected electric grid
operated by a single utility
• Transmission lines that join two areas are
known as tie-lines.
• The net power out of an area is the sum of
the flow on its tie-lines.
• The flow out of an area is equal to
total gen - total load - total losses = tie-flow 2
Area Control Error (ACE)

• The area control error (ace) is the difference

between the actual flow out of an area and
the scheduled flow, plus a frequency
component

ace = Pint − Psched + 10 β∆f

• Ideally the ACE should always be zero.

• Because the load is constantly changing,
each utility must constantly change its
generation to “chase” the ACE.
3
Automatic Generation Control

• Most utilities use automatic generation

control (AGC) to automatically change their
generation to keep their ACE close to zero.
• Usually the utility control center calculates
ACE based upon tie-line flows; then the
AGC module sends control signals out to the
generators every couple seconds.

4
Power Transactions

• Power transactions are contracts between

generators and loads to do power
transactions.
• Contracts can be for any amount of time at
any price for any amount of power.
• Scheduled power transactions are
implemented by modifying the value of
Psched used in the ACE calculation

5
PTDFs

• Power transfer distribution factors (PTDFs) show

the linear impact of a transfer of power.
• PTDFs calculated using the fast decoupled power
flow B matrix
∆θ= B −1∆P (x)
Once we know ∆θ we can derive the change in
the transmission line flows
Except now we modify several elements in ∆P (x),
in portion to how the specified generators would
participate in the power transfer
6
Nine Bus PTDF Example

Figure shows initial flows for a nine bus power system

300.0 MW
400.0 MW 300.0 MW

A B 250.0 MW D
10% 71%
71.1 MW C
60% 57%
92% 0.00 deg 64%
55%
11%
G F E
150.0 MW

74% 250.0 MW 250.0 MW 44% 32%

24%
H I
200.0 MW
150.0 MW

7
Nine Bus PTDF Example, cont'd

Figure now shows percentage PTDF flows from A to I

300.0 MW
400.0 MW 300.0 MW

A B 250.0 MW D
43% 30%
71.1 MW C
57% 10%
13% 0.00 deg 20%
35%
2%
G F E
150.0 MW

34% 250.0 MW 250.0 MW 34% 32%

34%
H I
200.0 MW
150.0 MW

8
Nine Bus PTDF Example, cont'd

Figure now shows percentage PTDF flows from G to F

300.0 MW
400.0 MW 300.0 MW

A B 250.0 MW D
6% 18%
71.1 MW C
6% 6%
12% 0.00 deg 12%
61%
19%
G F E
150.0 MW

21% 250.0 MW 250.0 MW 20%

21%
H I
200.0 MW
150.0 MW

9
WE to TVA PTDFs

10
Line Outage Distribution Factors (LODFS)

• LODFs are used to approximate the change in the

flow on one line caused by the outage of a second
line
– typically they are only used to determine the change in
the MW flow
– LODFs are used extensively in real-time operations
– LODFs are state-independent but do dependent on the
assumed network topology

∆Pl =LODFl ,k Pk

11
Flowgates

• The real-time loading of the power grid is accessed

via “flowgates”
• A flowgate “flow” is the real power flow on one or
more transmission element for either base case
conditions or a single contingency
– contingent flows are determined using LODFs
• Flowgates are used as proxies for other types of
limits, such as voltage or stability limits

12
NERC Regional Reliability Councils

NERC
is the
North
American
Electric
Reliability
Council

Image: http://www.nerc.com/AboutNERC/keyplayers/Documents/NERC_Regions_Color.jpg
13
 NERC Reliability Coordinators

Image: www.nerc.com/pa/rrm/TLR/Pages/Reliability-Coordinators.aspx 14
Generation Dispatch

• Since the load is variable and there must be enough

generation to meet the load, almost always there is more
generation capacity available than load
• Optimally determining which generators to use can be a
complicated task due to many different constraints
– For generators with low or no cost fuel (e.g., wind and solar
PV) it is “use it or lose it”
– For others like hydro there may be limited energy for the year
– Some fossil has shut down and start times of many hours
• Economic dispatch looks at the best way to
instantaneously dispatch the generation
15
Generator types

• Traditionally utilities have had three broad groups

of generators
– baseload units: large coal/nuclear; always on at max.
– midload units: smaller coal that cycle on/off daily
– peaker units: combustion turbines used only for several
hours during periods of high demand
Wind and solar
PV can be
quite variable;
usually they are
operated at max.
available power
16
 Example California Wind Output
Image shows wind output for a month by hour and day

Source: www.megawattsf.com/gridstorage/gridstorage.htm
17
Thermal versus Hydro Generation

• The two main types of generating units are thermal

and hydro, with wind rapidly growing
• For hydro the fuel (water) is free but there may be
many constraints on operation
– fixed amounts of water available
– reservoir levels must be managed and coordinated
– downstream flow rates for fish and navigation
• Hydro optimization is typically longer term (many
months or years)
• In 476 we will concentrate on thermal units and
some wind, looking at short-term optimization
18
Block Diagram of Thermal Unit

To optimize generation costs we need to develop

cost relationships between net power out and operating
costs. Between 2-6% of power is used within the
generating plant; this is known as the auxiliary power 19
Modern Coal Plant

Source: Masters, Renewable and Efficient Electric Power Systems, 2004

20
Turbine for Nuclear Power Plant

Source: http://images.pennnet.com/articles/pe/cap/cap_gephoto.jpg
21
 Basic Gas Turbine

Brayton Cycle: Working fluid is Maximum Efficiency

always a gas
550 + 273
=1− =42%
Most common fuel is natural gas 1150 + 273
Typical efficiency is around 30 to 35%
22
 Combined Cycle Power Plant

Efficiencies of up to 60% can be achieved, with even higher

values when the steam is used for heating. Fuel is usually natural gas
23
Generator Cost Curves

• Generator costs are typically represented by up to

four different curves
– input/output (I/O) curve
– fuel-cost curve
– heat-rate curve
– incremental cost curve
• For reference
– 1 Btu (British thermal unit) = 1054 J
– 1 MBtu = 1x106 Btu
– 1 MBtu = 0.293 MWh
– 3.41 Mbtu = 1 MWh
24
I/O Curve

• The IO curve plots fuel input (in MBtu/hr) versus

net MW output.

25
Fuel-cost Curve

• The fuel-cost curve is the I/O curve scaled by fuel

cost. A typical cost for coal is $ 1.70/Mbtu.

26
Heat-rate Curve

• Plots the average number of MBtu/hr of fuel input

needed per MW of output.
• Heat-rate curve is the I/O curve scaled by MW

Best for most efficient units are

around 9.0

27
Incremental (Marginal) cost Curve

• Plots the incremental $/MWh as a function of MW.

• Found by differentiating the cost curve

28
Mathematical Formulation of Costs

• Generator cost curves are usually not smooth.

However the curves can usually be adequately
approximated using piece-wise smooth, functions.
• Two representations predominate
– quadratic or cubic functions
– piecewise linear functions
• In 476 we'll assume a quadratic presentation
Ci ( PGi ) = α i + β PGi + γ PGi2 $/hr (fuel-cost)
dCi ( PGi )
ICi ( PGi )= = β + 2γ PGi $/MWh
dPGi
29
Coal Usage Example 1

• A 500 MW (net) generator is 35% efficient. It is

being supplied with Western grade coal, which
costs $1.70 per MBtu and has 9000 Btu per pound.
What is the coal usage in lbs/hr? What is the cost?
At 35% efficiency required fuel input per hour is
500 MWh 1428 MWh 1 MBtu 4924 MBtu
= × =
hr × 0.35 hr 0.29 MWh hr
4924 MBtu 1 lb 547,111 lbs
× =
hr 0.009MBtu hr
4924 MBtu $1.70
Cost = × =8370.8 $/hr or $16.74/MWh
hr MBtu
30
 Coal Usage Example 2

• Assume a 100W lamp is left on by mistake for 8

hours, and that the electricity is supplied by the
previous coal plant and that
transmission/distribution losses are 20%. How
coal has been used?
With 20% losses, a 100W load on for 8 hrs requires
1 kWh of energy. With 35% gen. efficiency this requires
1 kWh 1 MWh 1 MBtu 1 lb
× × × = 1.09 lb
0.35 1000 kWh 0.29 MWh 0.009MBtu

31
Incremental Cost Example
For a two generator system assume
C1 ( PG1 ) = 1000 +20 PG1 + 0.01PG21 $ / hr
C2 ( PG 2 ) = 400 +15 PG 2 + 0.03PG22 $ / hr
Then
dC1 ( PG1 )
IC1 ( PG1 )= = 20 + 0.02 PG1 $/MWh
dPG1
dC2 ( PG 2 )
IC2 ( PG 2=
) = 15 + 0.06 PG 2 $/MWh
dPG 2

32
Incremental Cost Example, cont'd
If PG1 =
250 MW and PG2 150 MW Then
C1 (250)= 1000 +20 × 250 + 0.01 × 250=
2
$ 6625/hr
C2 (150)= 400 +15 × 150 + 0.03 × 1502 = $6025/hr
Then
IC1 (250) = 20 + 0.02 × 250 = $ 25/MWh
IC2 (150) = 15 + 0.06 × 150 =$ 24/MWh

33
Economic Dispatch: Formulation

• The goal of economic dispatch is to determine the

generation dispatch that minimizes the
instantaneous operating cost, subject to the
constraint that total generation = total load + losses
m
Minimize CT  ∑ Ci ( PGi ) Initially we'll
i =1 ignore generator
Such that limits and the
m losses
∑ PGi= PD + PLosses
i=1

34
Unconstrained Minimization

• This is a minimization problem with a single

inequality constraint
• For an unconstrained minimization a necessary (but
not sufficient) condition for a minimum is the
gradient of the function must be zero, ∇f (x) = 0
• The gradient generalizes the first derivative for
multi-variable problems:
 ∂f (x) ∂f (x) ∂f (x) 
∇f ( x )   , ,, 
 1∂ x ∂ x2 ∂x n 

35
Minimization with Equality Constraint

• When the minimization is constrained with an

equality constraint we can solve the problem using
the method of Lagrange Multipliers
• Key idea is to modify a constrained minimization
problem to be an unconstrained problem
That is, for the general problem
minimize f (x) s.t. g (x) = 0
We define the Lagrangian L(x= ,λ ) f (x) + λ T g (x)
Then a necessary condition for a minimum is the
∇L x (x,λ )= 0 and ∇L λ (x,λ )= 0
36
Economic Dispatch Lagrangian

For the economic dispatch we have a minimization

constrained with a single equality constraint
m m
,λ)
L(PG = ∑ Ci ( PGi ) + λ ( PD − ∑ PGi ) (no losses)
i 1 =i 1
The necessary conditions for a minimum are
∂L(PG , λ ) dCi ( PGi )
= = −λ 0 = (for i 1 to m)
∂PGi dPGi
m
PD − ∑ PGi =
0
i =1

37
Economic Dispatch Example
What is economic dispatch for a two generator
system PD = PG1 + PG 2 = 500 MW and
C1 ( PG1 ) = 1000 +20 PG1 + 0.01PG21 $ / hr
C2 ( PG 2 ) = 400 +15 PG 2 + 0.03PG22 $ / hr
Using the Largrange multiplier method we know
dC1 ( PG1 )
−λ =20 + 0.02 PG1 − λ =
0
dPG1
dC2 ( PG 2 )
−λ =15 + 0.06 PG 2 − λ =0
dPG 2
500 − PG1 − PG 2 =0
38
Economic Dispatch Example, cont’d

We therefore need to solve three linear equations

20 + 0.02 PG1 − λ = 0
15 + 0.06 PG 2 − λ =
0
500 − PG1 − PG 2 =0
0.02 0 −1  PG1   −20 
 0 0.06 −1  PG 2  =  −15 
    
 −1 −1   λ   −500 
 PG1   312.5 MW 
 P  =  187.5 MW 
 G2   
 λ   26.2 $/MWh  39