Optimization of the Managing Strategy of a Cogenerative Power Park in a Liberalized Market

The paper addresses the optimization of the managing strategy of a cogenerative power park in a liberalized market characterized by great time variability of the electricity sale price. Besides electric tariffs and marginal costs, a variety of other factors affects the selection of operating mode of the prime movers, such as environmental conditions, O&M costs, range of plant output regulation capability and performance deterioration of the components. The optimum plant operating schedule is found with reference to a tariff scenario where the base-load, mid-term and peak-load electricity costs are set by economical competition among a variety of power stations. The first part of the paper focuses on the case of a single cogenerative combined cycle, generating heat and electricity for an industrial load. The paper then deals with the extension of the optimization strategy to the more complex case of a combination of various prime movers (including combined cycle, combustion turbines and reciprocating gensets), all feeding the same district heating network. The results indicate the utmost importance of a correct management of the power stations for the achievement of best energy ad economic results.Copyright © 2004 by ASME