A recursive economic dispatch algorithm for assessing the costs of thermal generator schedules

The authors develop an efficient, recursive algorithm for determining the economic power dispatch of thermal generators within the unit commitment environment. The algorithm uses the equal incremental fuel cost criterion as its basis. In the algorithm, the fuel cost functions of the thermal generators are modeled by quadratic polynomials and the transmission losses are discounted. A method for incorporating the operation limits of the online generators and limits due to ramping generators is developed. The algorithm is amenable to computer implementation using the artificial intelligence programming language Prolog. The performance, of the algorithm was demonstrated through its application to the evaluation of the costs of dispatching 13 thermal generators within a generator schedule in a 24-h schedule horizon