Unit 4

ECONOMIC DISPATCH
PROBLEM

Mr.A.Marimuthu
Asst.Professor /EEE
K.L.N College of Engineering,
Pottapalaym
 Introduction
• In practice and in power flow analysis, there are many
choices for setting the operating points of generators
– in the power flow analysis, generator buses are specified by
P and |V|
– generation capacity is more than load demand - generators
can produce more than the customers can consume
• there are many solution combinations for scheduling generation
– in practice, power plants are not located at the same
distance from the load centers
– power plants use different types of fuel, which vary in cost
from time to time
• For interconnected systems, the objective is to find the
real and reactive power scheduling so as to minimize
some operating cost or cost function

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 Optimization
• General cost function:
• Unconstrained parameter optimization, from calculus:
– the first derivative of f vanishes at a local extrema

– for f to be a local minimum, the second derivative must be

positive at the point of the local extrema

– for a set of parameters, the gradient of f vanishes at a local

extrema and to be a local minimum, the Hessian must be a
positive definite matrix (i.e. positive eigenvalues)

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 Optimization

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 Optimization

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 Optimization

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 Equality Constraints in Optimization
• This type of problem arises when there are functional
dependencies among the parameters to be found
– The problem
• minimize the cost function

• subject to the equality constraints

• Such problems may be solved by the Lagrange muliplier

method

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 Equality Constraints in Optimization
• Lagrange Multiplier method
– introduce k-dimensional vector l for the
undetermined quantities

– The necessary conditions for finding the local

minimum

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 Operating Costs
• Factors influencing the minimum cost of power
generation
– operating efficiency of prime mover and generator
– fuel costs
– transmission losses
• The most efficient generator in the system does not
guarantee minimum costs
– may be located in an area with high fuel costs
– may be located far from the load centers and transmission
losses are high
• The problem is to determine generation at different
plants to minimize the total operating costs
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 Operating Costs

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 The Economic Dispatch Problem
• Consider a system that consists of N thermal-generating units
serving an aggregated electrical load, Pload
– input to each unit: cost rate of fuel consumed, Fi
– output of each unit: electrical power generated, Pi
– total cost rate, FT , is the sum of the individual unit costs
• essential constraint:
– the sum of the output powers must equal the load demand
• the problem is to minimize FT

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 Economic Dispatch Problem –Neglecting Losses
• The mathematical statement of the problem is a constrained optimization
with the following functions:
• objective function:

• equality constraint:

– note that any transmission losses are neglected and any

operating limits are not explicitly stated when formulating this
problem may be solved using the Lagrange function

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Economic Dispatch Problem –Neglecting Losses
• Principles
– the Lagrange function establishes the necessary
conditions for finding an extrema of an objective
function with constraints
– taking the first derivatives of the Lagrange function
with respect to the independent variables allows us to
find the extreme value when the derivatives are set to
zero
• there are NF + Nl derivatives, one for each independent
variable and one for each equality constraint
• the derivatives of the Lagrange function with respect to the
Lagrange multiplier l merely gives back the constraint equation
• the NF partial derivatives result in

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Economic Dispatch Problem –Neglecting Losses

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Economic Dispatch Problem –Neglecting Losses

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Economic Dispatch Problem –Neglecting Losses

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Economic Dispatch Problem –Neglecting Losses

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Economic Dispatch Problem –Neglecting Losses

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Economic Dispatch Problem –Neglecting Losses

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 Economic Dispatch Problem –Including Losses
• Consider a similar system, which now has a transmission
network that connects the generating units to the load
– the economic dispatch problem is slightly more
complicated
– the constraint equation must include the network losses,
P loss
• the objective function, FT is the same as before
• the constraint equation must
be expanded as:

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 Economic Dispatch Problem –Including Losses
• The same math procedure is followed to establish the
necessary conditions for a minimum-cost operating
solution
– Lagrange function and its derivatives w.r.t. the input
power:

– the transmission network loss is a function of the

impedances and the currents flowing in the network
• for convenience, the currents may be considered functions of the
input and load powers
– it is more difficult to solve this set of equations

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 Economic Dispatch Problem –Including Losses

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 Economic Dispatch Problem –Including Losses

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 Economic Dispatch Problem –Including Losses

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 Economic Dispatch Problem –Including Losses

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 Economic Dispatch Problem –Including Losses

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 The Lambda-Iteration Method
• The solution to the optimal dispatch can be approached by
graphical methods
– plot the incremental cost characteristics for each
generator
– the operating points must have minimum cost and satisfy
load
• that is, find an incremental cost rate, l that meets the
demand PR
graphically:

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 The Lambda-Iteration Method
• An iterative process
– assume an incremental cost
rate l and find the sum of the
power outputs for this rate
• the first estimate will be
incorrect
– if the total power output is too
low, increase the l value, or if
too high, decrease the l value
– with two solutions, a closer
value of total power can be
extrapolated or interpolated
– the steps are repeated until the
desired output is reached

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 The Lambda-Iteration Method
• This procedure can be adopted for
a computer implementation
– the implementation of the power
output calculation is rather
independent of the solution method
• each generator output could be
solved by a different method
– as an iterative procedure, a stopping
criterion must be established
• two general stopping rules are
appropriate for this application
– total output power is within a
specified tolerance of the load demand
– iteration loop count exceeds
a maximum value

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 The Lambda-Iteration Method

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 The Lambda-Iteration Method

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 The Lambda-Iteration Method

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 The Lambda-Iteration Method

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 BASE POINT AND PARTICIPATION FACTORS
• The allocation of individual generators over a range of total generation
values
– accomplished using base points and participation factors
• for period k, the economic dispatch sets the base-point
• generation values for the total generation value measured at the
start of the period
• the base-point generation for the i th unit, Pi base is the most
economic output for the particular total generation value
• the participation factor, pfi, sets the rate of change of the ith unit’s
power output with respect to a change in total generation
• the base points and participation factors are used as follows

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 BASE POINT AND PARTICIPATION FACTORS
• Base points and participation factors
– participation factors are determined from a generator’s
cost Function
• assume that both the first and second derivatives exist
for the cost function
• the change in the system’s incremental cost as a
function of the change in power output on the ith
generator

• the change in system incremental cost equaling the unit’s

incremental cost is true for all generating units

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 BASE POINT AND PARTICIPATION FACTORS

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 BASE POINT AND PARTICIPATION FACTORS
• Base points and participation factors
– the total change in generation must equal the
change in the total system demand, and is the sum
of all the individual unit changes

– the participation factor for each generating unit is

then found as

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