Optimal dispatch programming of hydroelectric power generation with the use of genetic algorithms

The population increase and the growth of buying power of home appliances cause the need of electricity power to increase every year in Brazil. Electric dispatch is defined as the attribution of operational values to each generation unit inside a power plant, given some criteria to be fulfilled. In this context, an optimal dispatch schedule for hydroelectric units in energy plants provides a greater amount of energy to be generated with less consumption of water. This paper presents an optimization solution to solve this problem for an actual plant, using Genetic Algorithms. The underlying mathematical modeling is described in details and practical validation of the proposed approach is performed through simulation experiments. In the case study, results are analysed and compared to the actual system running in a real world plant. Finally, the generality of the proposed approach is discussed and possibilities of its use to solve the same problem to other hydroelectric plants are presented.