Optimizing Multi-Unit Powerhouses: Method to Compute Unit Selection and Load Sharing

摘要

The Grand Coulee case study demonstrates that powerhouse efficiency may be improved if operations are complimented with an SQP-based decision support tool. However, these gains were achieved using group discharge equations rather than unit-specific efficiency curves, suggesting further improvements may be possible if all units are individually characterized such that variations between units may be exploited to maximize optimization. Such characterization could be done via absolute index testing of every unit to ascertain individual absolute performance characteristics. Nonetheless, the use of group discharge equations proved to be sufficient to suggest possible operational gains of 1% to 2%. Estimating the value of the saved flow energy in terms of electrical energy, and grossly extrapolating based on the four data sets presented in the case study, the about 627 MWh per day saved amount to an annual savings of about $6.9 million, as presented in Table 1 on page 44.