A Review on Unit Commitment Algorithms for the Italian Electricity Market

Abstract

This paper focuses on the state-of-the-art of unit commitment (UC) and economic dispatch (ED) algorithms suitable for the Italian electricity market. In view of the spread of renewable energy systems (RES), the desired UC algorithm should be able to properly consider the uncertainty affecting key input variables into the formulation of the problem, as well as the different capabilities of dispatched power plants to provide ancillary services (e.g., voltage regulation). The goal of this paper is to resume the developments in UC and ED algorithms which occurred in the last decades, having a particular focus on alternating current (AC) security constrained (SC) approaches and stochastic ones, highlighting the advantages and weakness of each technique. This review is useful for the Italian TSO (Terna) to investigate what is the best solution to formulate a new algorithm to be potentially adopted in the framework of the Italian Ancillary Service Market, striving for an explicit modelization of stochastic variables and voltage constraints. This review is also useful to all system operators (SOs), independently to the market environment in which they operate, because UC algorithms are widely adopted to ensure real-time security of power systems. In conclusion, an SC-UC algorithm which takes into account both stochastic variables and AC formulation does not exist.

Analysis of Environmental Priorities for Green Project Investments Using an Integrated q-Rung Orthopair Fuzzy Modeling

“…In this study, it is also highlighted that green project investors should give importance to the diversification of the renewable energy usage. Falvo et al [19] evaluated the Italian energy market. They also concluded that the verification of clean energy usage should be provided for the success of green energy investment projects.…”

“…Land use and ecological protection (Alternative 2) [19] Pollution control and waste management (Alternative 3) [17] Eco-friendly transportation activities (Alternative 4) [21] Technologies of circular manufacturing (Alternative 5) [18] Green buildings (Alternative 6) [16] For the effectiveness of the green project investments, companies can focus on energy generation and efficiency. Also, land use and ecological protection t can be considered.…”

Search Space Reduction for the Thermal Unit Commitment Problem through a Relevance Matrix

“…The goal is to minimize overall costs (C), which are given by the sum of fuel costs and startup costs, as in Equation (1). Such an economically driven objective function is vastly adopted by the UC literature.…”

“…For this reason, experts address the thermal unit commitment (TUC) problem from several perspectives and apply different solving techniques. Obtaining solutions that balance generation costs and computational burden is usually the goal of electrical system researchers in many countries [1][2][3]. The major challenge regarding TUC comes from the specific characteristics of power generation planning problems in general [4], which consist of two stages [5]: (i) the operation decisions (ON/OFF) of the power plants, known as unit commitment (UC), and (ii) the economic dispatch of the plants in operation.…”

Day-Ahead Dynamic Assessment of Consumption Service Reserve Based on Morphological Filter

“…However, the uncertainty of a new power system with a high proportion of renewable energy is significantly enhanced due to the innate nature of randomness, intermittency, and volatility of wind and photovoltaic power. Compared with the traditional power grid dominated by synchronous power generation, dispatch operators are faced with much more severe challenges of real-time power balance due to the complex and changeable characteristics of system operation [2][3][4].…”