Implementation of network flow programming to the hydrothermal coordination in an energy management system

Hydrothermal coordination (HTC), consisting of hydro optimization and thermal unit commitment, is a major function in a power system for allocating its generating resources to achieve the system's maximum economy. The optimality conditions of an incremental network flow programming (INFP) approach are described. The implementation of INFP in an energy management system (EMS) and its interface with the existing unit commitment (UC) software are presented. Some new features are described in detail. The combined HTC and UC package has been delivered to a power utility, Tenaga National Berhad (TNB) in West Malaysia. Internal tests and factory acceptance tests have shown that NFP with a modified Superkilter algorithm is a powerful tool for hydro network flow optimization.<>