A new approach for solving the problem of unit commitment

This paper is concerned with solving the problem of unit commitment of thermal units for large-scale power systems by implementing a new approach. Decomposition techniques (Lagrangian relaxation and Benders decomposition methods) have been used to facilitate the solution of the problem for large power systems, however, no optimal solution to the problem has yet been obtained. The proposed technique deals with reducing the number of units in the system to the lowest possible number by classifying the units according to their input-output characteristics into groups. Each group consists of only identical units. The reduced system is formed by representing each group by one unit. The problem of the reduced system is solved and from that, an overall solution to the unit commitment problem of the system is obtained. This technique is discussed and tested on a case study. A comparison of the obtained results by the proposed method and number of other conventional methods has been carried out