Procurement of optimization models for market operations transforming complex hydro scheduling and planning legacy systems

As a key player in the emerging energy markets in the Pacific North West, Bonneville Power Administration's emerging GenCo operations are transforming their scheduling and planning functions based on the consolidation of a complex array of legacy computer models and manual processes into a single cross-functional application. The authors present a case history of the methods and analysis used for model definition, procurement project management, integration with systems supporting real-time trading and scheduling, and concurrent organizational improvements. Bonneville markets the power produced from 17000 MW of hydroelectric and 1100 MW of nuclear capacity in a planning and scheduling environment that is characterized by highly constrained fishery operations, volatile market prices, system reliability concerns, and efficiency improvement targets. Using advanced linear programming techniques, the new system will incorporate commercial, operational, and environmental objectives by (1) consolidating five legacy models; (2) modeling 40 plus system constraints and 70 plus hydroelectric plants; (3) considering ancillary services and transmission; and (4) optimizing revenue. BPA plans on using this application to realize significant operational improvements and to fortify its position as an effective player in the increasingly competitive markets of the CAISO and emerging RTO West. Lessons learnt are related to industry technology drivers and trends for complex modeling systems.