Price-based annual generation maintenance scheduling of a thermal producer

The generation maintenance scheduling problem faced by a power producer aims at defining the optimal time intervals for the maintenance of each generating unit. The planning horizon is typically mid-term (year-ahead). In this paper, the annual maintenance scheduling problem of a thermal producer is solved with respect to economic and technical security criteria. The aim is to maximize yearly profit, while simultaneously satisfying the operating constraints of the producer's generating units. Specific constraints regarding unit maintenance are also taken into consideration, such as avoiding the simultaneous planned outage of generating units that belong to the same power station, and maintenance intervals that must be scheduled whenever a specific number of operating hours is completed. The generation maintenance scheduling problem is formulated and solved as a mixed-integer linear programming problem using commercial software (GAMS/CPLEX).