Scheduling of Head-Sensitive Cascaded Hydro Systems: A Nonlinear Approach J. P. S. Catalão, Member, IEEE, S. J. P. S. Mariano, V. M. F. Mendes, and L. A. F. M. Ferreira

In this paper, we propose a novel nonlinear approach to solve the short-term hydro scheduling problem under deregu- lation, considering head-dependency. The actual size of hydro sys- tems, the continuous reservoir dynamics and constraints, the hy- draulic coupling of cascaded hydro systems, and the complexity associated with head-sensitive hydroelectric power generation still pose a real challenge to the modelers. These concerns are all ac- counted for in our approach. Results from a case study based on one of the main Portuguese cascaded hydro systems are presented, showing that the proposed nonlinear approach is proficient.