Strategic self-dispatch considering ramping costs in deregulated power markets

Ramp rates of generators are generally specified within elastic range of the strength of the shaft to safeguard the rotor from fatigue. These limits can, however, be exceeded, albeit at the risk of reducing the rotor life. Such effects on the rotor life can be compensated by incorporating appropriate ramping costs. Power demand and power price in deregulated power markets have shown a tendency of sudden wide excursions over short intervals of time. The ability to respond to such fast change in demand and price can be quite rewarding. This provides the motivation to utilize the ramping rates beyond traditional elastic limits. This paper studies the strategic use of ramping rates beyond elastic limits in a power producer´s self-dispatch in a power market with price and demand volatility. A set of ramping processes has been developed from ramping-cost versus ramping time relationships to derive the total operation cost including ramping costs for various levels of ramping rates exceeding elastic limits. A thorough theoretical analysis has been conducted for the selection of the optimal ramping process under different conditions. A numerical example is presented to highlight the potential benefits from the optimal use of these ramping processes. It is seen that the benefit from the strategic use of ramp rates beyond elastic limits not only depends on the high price in the power market but also on the initial loading of the generator which limits the capacity available for dispatch.