Semidefinite programming relaxations for {0,1}-power dispatch problems

Semidefinite programming (SDP) relaxations for two {0,1}-power-dispatch problems are presented in this paper. The first problem deals with the solution of a static quadratic economic dispatch problem, where generators status (on or off) and power levels to supply a load are to be determined. Within Lagrangian relaxation approaches to solve generation unit commitment (UC) problems, the solution to single-unit subproblems has always been carried out using dynamic programming (DP) algorithms. The second problem deals with a SDP-relaxation of such UC-subproblems. Preliminary results show that SDP-relaxations represent a promising approach to solve these and other {0,1}-power dispatch problems.