Impact of unit commitment constraints on generation expansion planning with renewables

Bryan Palmintier, Mort Webster

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

142 Scopus citations

Abstract

Growing use of renewables pushes thermal generators against operating constraints - e.g. ramping, minimum output, and operating reserves - that are traditionally ignored in expansion planning models. We show how including such unit-commitment-derived details can significantly change energy production and optimal capacity mix. We introduce a method for efficiently combining unit commitment and generation expansion planning into a single mixed-integer optimization model. Our formulation groups generators into categories allowing integer commitment states from zero to the installed capacity. This formulation scales well, runs much faster (e.g. 5000x) than individual plant binary decisions, and makes the combined model computationally tractable for large systems (hundreds of generators) at hourly time resolutions (8760 hours) using modern solvers on a personal computer. We show that ignoring these constraints during planning can result in a sub-optimal capacity mix with significantly higher operating costs (17%) and carbon emissions (39%) and/or the inability to meet emissions targets.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication2011 IEEE PES General Meeting
Subtitle of host publicationThe Electrification of Transportation and the Grid of the Future
DOIs
StatePublished - 2011
Event2011 IEEE PES General Meeting: The Electrification of Transportation and the Grid of the Future - Detroit, MI, United States
Duration: Jul 24 2011Jul 28 2011

Publication series

NameIEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting
ISSN (Print)1944-9925
ISSN (Electronic)1944-9933

Other

Other2011 IEEE PES General Meeting: The Electrification of Transportation and the Grid of the Future
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityDetroit, MI
Period7/24/117/28/11

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology
  • Nuclear Energy and Engineering
  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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