A fast heuristic algorithm for maximum LOLP constrained unit commitment

A novel fast heuristic algorithm for operating reliability constrained unit commitment is proposed in this paper. The loss-of-load probability constraints are fulfilled by the iteration between the traditional spinning reserve constrained unit commitment and the operating reliability estimation. The features of the approach are the fastness of the algorithm and the robustness of the results. Even for system with hundreds of units considering high-order contingencies, the algorithm can converge in few minutes while the result is feasible and suboptimal, if not optimal. The approach makes unit commitment considering loss-of-load probability constraints comparable with traditional deterministic unit commitment approaches in computation speed, and this will promote the application of the probability unit commitment approaches. Case studies on the single area and multi-area RTS-96 systems illustrate the efficiency of the proposed approach.