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Optimization of the Kootenay River hydroelectric system with a linear programming model

University of British Columbia

The main objective of hydroelectric system optimization is to determine an operating policy for the best use of available resources. In order to find the optimum policy one should decide on the trade-off between the marginal value of water in the reservoirs and the amount of electricity produced electricity. The variability of natural inflows along with local and environmental limitations and special procedures and regulations, makes the decision making process more challenging for an operation planner of a reservoir system. The region considered in this study is the Kootenay River System and it includes five hydroelectric plants and a canal. The main storage reservoir in this system is the Kootenay Lake, which is the largest natural lake in British Columbia, Canada. The operation of the Kootenay system is complex because day-to-day operation decisions should satisfr all existing rules and water treaties and agreements in the area. In addition, a power generation schedule should take advantage of electricity markets and meet local load demands. This thesis developed a Linear Programming model to optimize the operation of the Kootenay system on daily timesteps for studies up to one year. Due to the operational complexities, the Kootenay system was not included in the optimization models developed at B.C Hydro (BCH). This model can be an extension to the existing “STOM” (Short Term Optimization Model) and Generalized Optimization Model “GOM”, which have been successfully adopted by BCH to optimize the daily operation of its plants. This is the first optimization model for the operation of Kootenay System and was developed in accordance with all the existing international treaties and special constraints on this system. Results obtained using the model have indicated that this model can successfully optimize the operation of the Kootenay system. Comparison of this model to the current operation method showed that with respect to all system’s constraints and value of water, the optimization model can yield a higher value of electricity generation and it is expected that it will be added to the set of tools used by the system operation engineers for their daily operations.

Thesis/Dissertation

application/pdf

2009-03-09

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/5792

Civil Engineering

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/