FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

DEPAARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING

POWER SYSTEMS ECONOMICS EEB 551

LAB 1: SIMPLE ECONOMIC DISPATCH PROBLEM

PATRON SELEBOGO 201902220

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT...............................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................3

HISTORY OF BOTSWANA POWER CORPORATION........................................................3

OPERATIONAL STRUCTURE OF BPC.................................................................................4

GENERATION......................................................................................................................4

TRANSMISSION..................................................................................................................5

DISTRIBUTION....................................................................................................................5

SERVICES OF BPC..................................................................................................................6

PHAKALANE SOLAR PV STATION.....................................................................................6

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION............................................................................................6

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INTRODUCTION
The economic dispatch problem distributes all energy consumed among power plant units by
minimizing operating costs and meeting generators and system constraints. Economic
dispatch is the basic mechanism for determining the best cost-effective point of operation for
all controllable devices connected to the power system according to their economic efficiency
in real time. In its traditional form, economic load dispatch consists mainly of conventional
generators, known as renewable generations, and loads that can be well approximated to a
definite problem that usually covers a short period of time.[1] In the electric power supply
systems, there exist a wide range of problems involving optimization processes. Among
them, the power system scheduling is one of the most important problems in the operation
and management.[2]

In principle, all generation and transmission dispatchers practice economic dispatch to reduce
the cost of serving loads. Economic dispatch reduces total variable production costs by
serving load using lower-variable-cost generation before using higher-variable cost
generation (i.e., by dispatching generation in “merit order” from lowest to highest variable
cost). Retail customers will benefit if the savings are passed through in retail rates. Economic
dispatch can reduce fuel use when it results in greater use of lower variable cost, higher-
efficiency generation units than of lower-efficiency units consuming the same fuel. [3]

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THEORY
Generation models

Models for the generating units and the transmission system make up the electric power
system representation for Economic Dispatch [2]. According to the power generated and the
individual unit's capacity for generation, the generation model depicts the cost of producing
electricity. The models are;

● Unit cost function

[F𝑖 = 𝐹𝑖 (𝑃𝑖 ),], 1.1
where F𝑖 is the production cost, 𝐹𝑖(. ) is the energy to cost conversion curve, and 𝑃𝑖 is
the production power.
● Unit capacity limits;
P𝑖 𝑚𝑖𝑛 ≤ 𝑃𝑖 ≤ 𝑃𝑖 𝑚𝑎𝑥 , 1.2
● System constraints;
∑ 𝑃𝑖 = 𝐷 1.3

Formulation of the Lagrangian

it provides the solution for all thermal, dispatching problem neglecting losses. Here, we can
approach the solution to the problem by considering graphical technique for solving the
problem and then into the area of computer algorithms. The lambda iteration method
procedure converges speedily for a specific type of optimization problem.
Optimization is converted into unconstrained optimization. The Lagrange multiplier method
is employed in which a function is minimized/maximized with aspect conditions in the form
of equality constraints.
N
minimize ∑ F i ( Pi)
i=1

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 Subject to 1.1 - 1.3
This lead to
N N
L=∑ F i (Pi )+ λ(D − ∑ Pi ) 1.4
i=1 i=1
Application of Karush-Kuhn-Tucker method to langrangian function gives
d F 1 P1
=λ
d P1
d F 2 P2
=λ
d P2

D=P 1+ P2

OBJECTIVES
The aim of this experimental lab was to

 solve a two simple unit system economic dispatch problem manually and

 solve a two simple unit system economic dispatch problem using MATLAB software.

APPARATUS
 Pen

 Paper

 Calculator

 Computer ( with mat-lab software)

PROCEDURE
● Manually solve the problem and compare the two solutions.

● Write a MATLAB code for the economic dispatch problem to find the total cost of
production, lambda, P1 and P2,

● Run each of the script to get the results of the code

● Compare the results with the manually calculated results

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RESULTS
1. Manual calculations

Problem;

F 1=¿ 8 P +0.024 P
1
2
1
+ 80¿

F 2=¿ 8.2 P +0.025 P 2

+ 82¿ (1)
2 2

df 1
=8+0.048 P1
dP1

df 2
=8.2+0.05 P2 (2)
dP2

0 ≤ P2 ≤ 80 (3)

0 ≤ P1 ≤ 80

Calculation for λ

P n
Bi
D +∑
2 γi
λ=
i

∑ 21γ
n i

8 8.2
150+ +
2 × 0.024 2 × 0.025
1 1
+
2× 0.024 2× 0.025

= 11.7715 Pula/MW Hr

finding P1 and P2

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 11.7715 − 8
P 1=
2 × 0.024

= 78.57 MW

11.7715− 8.2
P 2=
2× 0.025

=71.43 MW

Total cost calculation

C T =F 1 + F2

F 1=¿ 8 ×78.57+ 0.024×(78.57 )+ 80¿

2

=856.72 Pula/Hr

F 2=¿ 8.2 ×71.43+ 0.025×(71.43 )+82 ¿

2

=795 Pula/Hr

Total Cost = 1652 Pula/Hr

2. Calculations using Mat-lab code

% Economic Dispatch Problem

% Define Power Plant Characteristics

Pmin = [0 0]; % Minimum generation limits for each power plant (MW)

Pmax = [80 82]; % Maximum generation limits for each power plant (MW)

% Define Total Demand

Demand = 150; % Total demand for electricity (MW)

% Define Constraints

A=[];

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b=[];

Aeq = ones(1, length(Pmin)); % Equality constraint matrix (sum of

generation levels)

beq = Demand; % Equality constraint value (total demand)

% Define Objective Function

obj=@(P)80+8*P(1)+0.024*P(1)^2+82+8.2*P(2)+0.025*P(2)^2;

% Perform Optimization

P0 = (Pmin + Pmax) / 2; % Initial generation levels (midpoint of min/max

limits)

lb = Pmin; % Lower bounds for generation levels

ub = Pmax; % Upper bounds for generation levels

options = optimoptions('fmincon', 'Display', 'iter'); % Display

optimization progress

[x,fval,exitflag,output,lambda,grad,hessian]=fmincon(obj,P0,A,b,Aeq,beq,Pmi
n,Pmax);

% Display Results

disp("Optimal Generation Levels:");

disp(x);

disp("Minimum Cost:");

disp(fval);

disp("lambda");

disp(lambda);

Results for the code

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Page | 8
DISCUSSION
In economic dispatch, each power plant has minimum and maximum generation limits. Here,
`Pmin` represents the lower bound of generation for each power plant, while `Pmax`
represents the upper bound. In this case, there are two power plants, with the first having a
minimum generation of 0 MW and a maximum generation of 80 MW, and the second having
a minimum generation of 0 MW and a maximum generation of 82 MW.
The variables `A` and `b` represent inequality constraints, if any. In this code, the inequality
constraints are not defined, so these variables are left empty.`P0` represents the initial
generation levels for each power plant. In this case, both plants start with a generation level
of 0 MW.
`Aeq` and `beq` represent equality constraints, which need to be satisfied in the optimization
process. In this code, the equality constraint is defined as the total demand for electricity,
which is set to 150 MW. The constraint equation `Aeq * P = beq` ensures that the sum of the
generation levels of both power plants is equal to the total demand.
The objective function represents the cost function to be minimized in economic dispatch. In
this code, the objective function is defined as the total cost of generation. It is a function of
the generation levels `P` for each power plant, with coefficients determined by the cost
curves. The cost function includes quadratic terms, indicating that the cost of generation is
not linear but depends on the square of the generation level.
The `fmincon` function is used to perform constrained optimization. It finds the values of `P`
that minimize the objective function `obj`, subject to the defined constraints. The output
variables `x` represent the optimal generation levels, `fval` represents the minimum cost
obtained, `exitflag` indicates the exit status of the optimization, `output` contains information
about the optimization process, `lambda` represents the Lagrange multipliers for the
constraints, `grad` represents the gradient of the objective function, and `hessian` represents
the Hessian matrix.
The optimization algorithm finds the optimal generation levels `x` that minimize the cost
function `obj`, subject to the defined constraints. The minimum cost obtained is `fval`. The
values of `exitflag` and `output` provide information about the success or failure of the
optimization process.

CONCLUSSION
the provided MATLAB code snippet performs economic dispatch calculations by defining
the power plant characteristics, constraints, objective function, and performing constrained
optimization. It aims to find the optimal generation levels for each power plant that minimize
the cost of generation while satisfying the total demand constraint.

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REFERENCES
1.https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/economic-dispatch-problem#:~:text=The
%20economic%20dispatch,period%20of%20time.

2.https://backend.orbit.dtu.dk/ws/files/4134087/Vlachogiannis.pdf

3.https://www.energy.gov/oe/articles/value-economic-dispatch-report-congress-pursuant-
section-1234-energy-policy-act-2005#:~:text=Economic%20dispatch%20reduces%20total
%20variable,lowest%20to%20highest%20variable%20cost).

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