Short-term hydrothermal dispatch and demand management with evolutionary algorithms

This work presents a comparison of two evolutionary optimization algorithms when applied to short-term hydrothermal coordination with demand dispatch. The Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) technique and a Hybrid algorithm derived from the PSO and the differential evolution algorithm are studied. Demand is modeled as being partially flexible, it can be allocated along a time horizon in order to minimize thermal generation costs. Unit commitment of thermal generation units is represented. Continuity equations associated to storage reservoirs in cascade are modeled. Simulation results presented illustrate algorithms performance.