Generator maintenance scheduling

Abstract

The ongoing Electricity markets restructuring on a global scale, shifted much attention from centralized and in particular small isolated systems, typically found in islands. It is true that such systems, mainly run on liquid fuel Gensets, if not interconnected to some major grid may ever exhibit investment interest. As a result, many utilities constantly struggle while others due to fuel cost and the ever-increasing emission control restrictions, are near the verge to collapse. It is this necessity that actually urges for optimal managerial practices to exploit the last penny spent until-if ever, all these resource guzzling Gensets reach their retirement age. In this thesis we respect a realistic power plant feeding the tourist industry of an island. A 0/1 MILP formulation enables to accurately account for operation, maintenance and reliability status cost, providing in practical time a palette full of decision options. System demand is allocated in classes whereas the overall proposed reliability approach renders any chosen optimal schedule easily implemented in practice.