A Cardinality Minimization Approach to Security-Constrained Economic Dispatch

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel cardinality minimization model for security-constrained economic dispatch that reduces operating costs and emergency line usage, ensuring reliability during contingencies.

Contribution

It proposes a new threshold-based formulation and a continuous approximation method to effectively solve the security-constrained economic dispatch problem.

Findings

Reduces overall system operating costs.

Prevents prolonged high electricity prices during contingencies.

Effectively minimizes emergency line operation during system disruptions.

Abstract

We present a threshold-based cardinality minimization formulation to model the security-constrained economic dispatch problem. The model aims to minimize the operating cost of the system while simultaneously reducing the number of lines operating in emergency operating zones during contingency events. The model allows the system operator to monitor the duration for which lines operate in emergency zones and ensure that they are within the acceptable reliability standards determined by the system operators. We develop a continuous difference-of-convex approximation of the cardinality minimization problem and a solution method to solve the problem. Our numerical experiments demonstrate that the cardinality minimization approach reduces the overall system operating cost as well as avoids prolonged periods of high electricity prices during contingency events.