Decision support system for Iron Gate hydropower system operations

Abstract

Today, hydropower systems operate in highly competitive environment. Thus, it is important for them to get maximum benefits out of existing assets, resources and constraints as well. In order to make the best possible operational decision in complex hydropower system, it is necessary to consider as many scenarios as possible. Decision makers would benefit from a system that allows them to analyze a large set of possible scenarios and choose the most suitable one under current circumstances. In this paper, a decision support system for hydropower system operation applied to the Iron Gate hydropower plant is presented. This is modern, model-based system which connects data management, physics-based numeric model as well as optimization algorithms applied to developed model. The implementation of the entire system was carried out through the development of software solutions dedicated to Iron Gate power plant needs. Scenarios of everyday use are presented as well.