Nonlinear approach for short-term scheduling of a head-sensitive hydro chain

In a competitive electricity market, generation companies have to maximize their profits selecting the best strategy. This paper is on the problem of short-term hydro scheduling, particularly concerning a head-sensitive hydro chain. We propose a method based on nonlinear programming that considers power generation a function of water discharge and also of the head. The proposed method provides a higher profit for the company in comparison with classical optimization methods based on linear programming that ignores head dependence. Numerical results based on a realistic cascaded hydro chain show that this method is adequate for dealing with head-sensitive hydro chains.