Algorithmization in the task of optimization of cascade hydro power plants

Our work focuses on the problem of optimizing a cascade of three small hydro power plants. The optimization is based on deciding how much electricity to produce dependent on the day-ahead hourly electricity prices. The problem is reduced to controlling the water volumes in the cascade's reservoirs. We examine two approaches - linear programming based on Matlab's Simplex method (the Linprog function) and a Dynamic programming method. Linear programming is used for the limiting case when electricity prices exhibit daily cyclicality and Dynamic programming works for a finite time period. Two numerical examples are considered.