Multi-objective Optimal Reservoir Operation

The need for the efficient operation of hidropower plants, which provides most of the electrical power consumed in Brazil, is related not only to the issue of energy conservation, but has also been highlighted by the increasing opposition to the construction of new large reservoirs, for ecological and social reasons. In this work, a multi-objective genetic algorithm is applied to problem of the optimization of a single Brazilian hydropower plant, with the objectives of increasing the net energy generation along the year and reducing the peak of demand of non-renewable energy sources. To increase the performance of the algorithm, two new formulations for the problem are proposed, with different ways of dealing with the operational constraints. In comparison with the more traditional approach, this results not only in efficiency gains, but also in an expanded Pareto front, which adds more flexibility to the system, by revealing new possible configurations of system operation.