Method for evaluating operational and financial performance for dispatchers using after the fact analysis

• US 9,727,828 B2
• Filed: 07/02/2010
• Issued: 08/08/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alstom Technology Ltd. (Alstom SA)
• Original Assignee: Alstom Technology Ltd. (Alstom SA)
• Inventors: Sun, David, Cheung, Kwok, Chiu, But-Chung, Wang, Xing, Xiao, Ying, Mok, Kee, Yao, Mike
• Primary Examiner(s): Gills, Kurtis
• Application Number:
  US12/830,004
• Publication Number:
  US 20110022434A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,594 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/04 Forecasting or optimisation specially adapted for administrative or management purposes, e.g. linear programming or "cutting stock problem" market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities G06Q30/0202
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06375 Prediction of business process outcome or impact based on a proposed change
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 10/50 Systems or methods supporting the power network operation or management, involving a certain degree of interaction with the load-side end user applications

Abstract

A method is provided for evaluating operational and financial performance for dispatchers in power grid control centers associated with utility systems. A comprehensive operating plan is provided that applies after the fact analysis for performance metrics, root-cause impacts and process re-engineering. after the fact analysis of past events and practices is performed. Actual system and resource conditions are captured. the system and resource conditions are supplied to a relational database. A scheduler engine receives the actual system and resource conditions from the relational database and processes it to calculate system performance. At least one of the following is displayed, transmission evaluation application displays, reference and scenario cases and associations between them, results presented with a graphical or tabular displays, comparison results between scenario cases and a reference case, a family of curves where each curve is a performance metric, comparison of scenario input data, study results and statistical analysis and historical data.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a processor of a system, a transmission of a plurality of load forecasts associated with individual operating plans having scheduling intervals created by a plurality of scheduler engines that are security constrained unit commitments and economic dispatch sequences, wherein respective scheduler engines of the plurality of scheduler intervals have different look-ahead periods and different scheduling intervals, and wherein at least one of the individual operating plans comprises a constraint defining fuel consumption reserved for at least one scheduling interval of the scheduling intervals for generation of electrical power by a power generation system;

capturing, by the processor, real-time power generation system conditions associated with execution of a comprehensive operating plan during the generation of the electrical power by the power generation system, the comprehensive operating plan generated from the load forecasts associated with the individual operating plans and the constraint defining the fuel consumption reserved for the at least one scheduling interval of the scheduling intervals for generation of the electrical power by the power generation system;

performing, by the processor, an analysis on at least one of a performance metric, a root-cause impact, or a process re-engineering associated with the execution of the comprehensive operating plan against a use-case based upon the power generation system conditions, wherein the use-case comprises respective scenarios having perturbations of impact factors on the power generation system conditions, and the analysis comprises a two-round optimization on each scenario, wherein a first round of the two-round optimization comprises a security constrained unit dispatch optimization and a second round of the two-round optimization comprises a sequential security constrained economic dispatch optimization on a plurality of time intervals;

displaying, by the processor on a display device, results of the analysis on the at least one of the performance metric, a root-cause impact, or a process re-engineering for each scenario;

modifying, by the processor, the comprehensive operating plan based upon the results of the analysis on the at least one of the performance metric, the root-cause impact, or the process re-engineering for each scenario; and

controlling, by the processor, the power generation system to dispatch power generation system resources according to the modified comprehensive operating plan to generate the electrical power.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the analysis is a decision-support tool to evaluate operational and financial performance.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the analysis assesses impacts due to historical or potentially new power generation system conditions.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the individual operating plans comprises a constraint defining energy consumption reserved for at least one interval.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting, by the system, a potential failure relative to a utility company determined to be likely to impact at least a condition of the power generation system conditions prior to an occurrence of a catastrophic failure in the power generation system;

rendering, by the system, an auditory or visual comprehension which facilitates examination of the power generation system conditions in the power generation system at different levels of a hierarchy; and

creating, by the system, operator defined information relative to station or line elements from an operator selected area that are savable, recallable for future use, and display operator defined information for each element type of network elements.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the power generation system provides at least one of energy, distribution, generation, transmission, or energy market systems.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising enabling user-defined impact factors for the analysis.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the displaying comprises displaying at least one user interface comprising a current status for at least one of power generation, power generation, transmission, or energy market systems.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the user interface is independent of an energy management application.

4. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having executable instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution, cause a processor of a system to perform operations, comprising:

receiving a transmission of a plurality of load forecasts associated with individual operating plans having scheduling intervals created by a plurality of scheduler engines that are security constrained unit commitments and economic dispatch sequences, wherein respective scheduler engines of the plurality of scheduler engines have different look-ahead periods and different scheduling intervals, and at least one of the individual operating plans comprises a constraint defining fuel consumption reserved for at least one scheduling interval of the scheduling intervals for generation of electrical power by a power generation system;

tracking real-time power generation system conditions associated with execution of a comprehensive operating plan during the generation of the electrical power by the power generation system, the comprehensive operating plan generated from the load forecasts associated with the individual operating plans and the constraint defining the fuel consumption reserved for the at least one scheduling interval of the scheduling intervals for generation of the electrical power by the power generation system;

performing an analysis on at least one of a performance metric, a root-cause impact, or a process re-engineering associated with the execution of the comprehensive operating plan against a use-case based upon the power generation system conditions, wherein the use-case comprises respective scenarios having perturbations of impact factors on the power generation system conditions, and the analysis comprises a two-round optimization on each scenario, wherein a first round of the two-round optimization comprises a security constrained unit dispatch optimization and a second round of the two-round optimization comprises a sequential security constrained economic dispatch optimization on a plurality of time intervals;

displaying a result of the analysis on the at least one of the performance metric, a root-cause impact, or a process re-engineering for each scenario;

adjusting the comprehensive operating plan based upon the result of the analysis on the at least one of the performance metric, the root-cause impact, or the process re-engineering for each scenario; and

initiating the power generation system to dispatch power generation system resources according to the adjusted comprehensive operating plan to generate the electrical power.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 4, the operations further comprising:

enabling user-defined impact factors for the analysis.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 4, the operations further comprising:

automatically executing the analysis in response to an event.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 4, wherein the displaying comprises displaying at least one user interface includes graphics that displays at least one of current status, mitigating factors, or recommendations of a utility power system of one or more utility companies.

8. A system, comprising:

a processor, communicatively coupled to a memory that stores executable instructions, that executes or facilitates execution of the executable instructions, comprising;

a plurality of scheduler engines that are security constrained unit commitments and economic dispatch sequences, wherein respective scheduler engines have different look-ahead periods and different scheduling intervals, and configured to generate individual operating plans having scheduling intervals and comprising respective load forecasts, wherein at least one of the individual operating plans comprises a constraint defining fuel consumption reserved for at least one scheduling interval of the scheduling intervals for generation of electrical power by a power grid system;

a demand forecast integrator configured to;

generate a comprehensive operating plan from the load forecasts and based on the constraint defining the fuel consumption reserved for the at least one scheduling interval of the scheduling intervals for generation of the electrical power by the power grid system; and

an after-the-fact analysis tool configured to;

monitor real-time power grid system conditions associated with execution of a comprehensive operating plan during the generation of the electrical power by the power grid system;

perform an analysis on at least one of a performance metric, a root-cause impact, or a process re-engineering associated with the execution of the comprehensive operating plan against a use-case based upon the power grid system conditions, wherein the use-case comprises respective scenarios having perturbations of impact factors on the power grid system conditions, and the analysis comprises a two-round optimization on each scenario, wherein a first round of the two-round optimization comprises a security constrained unit dispatch optimization and a second round of the two-round optimization comprises a sequential security constrained economic dispatch optimization on a plurality of time intervals;

present results of the analysis on the at least one of the performance metric, a root-cause impact, or a process re-engineering for each scenario;

modifying the comprehensive operating plan based upon the results of the analysis on the at least one of the performance metric, the root-cause impact, or the process re-engineering for each scenario; and

dispatch resources of the power grid system according to the modified comprehensive operating plan to generate the electrical power.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the analysis is an objective measure of regional transmission organization relative to a transmission system operator'"'"'s performance with at least one of an average of percentage savings or a standard deviation of percentage savings in dispatching the power grid system by evaluating a potential production cost saving derived from the analysis.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the analysis includes at least one of an actual load, a resource output, an actual unit regulation status and regulation contribution, an actual resource reserve status, a reserve contribution, an actual unit commitment, or an actual network topology.

24. The system of claim 8, further comprising:

a context panel that provides context data relative to a given situation facing a utility company.

11. A device, comprising:

a processor, communicatively coupled to a memory that stores executable instructions, that executes or facilitates execution of the executable instructions configured to;

receive a transmission of a plurality of load forecasts associated with individual operating plans having scheduling intervals created by a plurality of scheduler engines that are security constrained unit commitments and economic dispatch sequences wherein respective scheduler engines have different look-ahead periods and different scheduling intervals, and at least one of the individual operating plans comprises a constraint defining fuel consumption reserved for at least one scheduling interval of the scheduling intervals for generation of electrical power by a power system;

receive power system conditions associated with execution of a comprehensive operating plan during the generation of the electrical power by the power system, the comprehensive operating plan generated from the load forecasts associated with the individual operating plans and further based on the constraint defining the fuel consumption reserved for the at least one scheduling interval of the scheduling intervals for generation of the electrical power by the power system;

execute an analysis on at least one of performance metrics, root-cause impacts, or process re-engineering associated with the execution of the comprehensive operating plan against a use-case based upon the power system conditions, wherein the use-case comprises respective scenarios having perturbations of impact factors on the power system conditions, and the analysis comprises a two-round optimization on each scenario, wherein a first round of the two-round optimization comprises a security constrained unit dispatch optimization and a second round of the two-round optimization comprises a sequential security constrained economic dispatch optimization on a plurality of time intervals;

display results of the analysis on the at least one of the performance metric, a root-cause impact, or a process re-engineering for each scenario;

alter the comprehensive operating plan based upon the results of the analysis on the at least one of the performance metric, the root-cause impact, or the process re-engineering for each scenario; and

initiating, by the system, the power system to dispatch power system resources according to the altered comprehensive operating plan to generate the electrical power.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein at least one of the individual operating plans comprises a constraint defining energy consumption reserved for at least one interval.

13. A system, comprising:

means for receiving a transmission of a plurality of load forecasts associated with individual operating plans having scheduling intervals created by a plurality of scheduler engines that are security constrained unit commitments and economic dispatch sequences, wherein respective scheduler engines have different look-ahead periods and different scheduling intervals, and at least one of the individual operating plans comprises a constraint defining fuel consumption reserved for at least one scheduling interval of the scheduling intervals for generation of electrical power by an energy generation system;

means for capturing real-time energy generation system conditions associated with execution of a comprehensive operating plan during the generation of the electrical energy by the energy generation system, the comprehensive operating plan generated from the load forecasts associated with the individual operating plans and the constraint defining the fuel consumption reserved for the at least one scheduling interval of the scheduling intervals for generation of the electrical power by the energy generation system;

means for applying an analysis on at least one of performance metrics, root-cause impacts and process re-engineering associated with the execution of the comprehensive operating plan against a use-case based upon the energy generation system conditions, wherein the use-case comprises respective scenarios having perturbations of impact factors on the energy generation system conditions, and the analysis comprises a two-round optimization on each scenario, wherein a first round of the two-round optimization comprises a security constrained unit dispatch optimization and a second round of the two-round optimization comprises a sequential security constrained economic dispatch optimization on a plurality of time intervals;

means for displaying results of the analysis on the at least one of the performance metric, a root-cause impact, or a process re-engineering for each scenario;

means for modifying the comprehensive operating plan based upon the results of the analysis on the at least one of the performance metric, the root-cause impact, or the process re-engineering for each scenario; and

means for dispatching resources of the energy generation system according to the modified comprehensive operating plan to generate the electrical energy.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein at least one of the individual operating plans comprises a constraint defining energy consumption reserved for at least one interval.

15. The system of claim 13, further comprising means for enabling user-defined impact factors for the analysis.

16. The system of claim 13, further comprising means for automatically executing the analysis in response to an event.

18. The system of claim 13,

wherein the displaying comprises displaying at least one user interface including graphics that display one or more of a current status, a mitigating factor, or a recommendation of the power generation system for a utility company.