A power system scheduling model with carbon intensity and ramping capacity constraints

The integration of European electricity markets aims at market coupling among interconnected power systems and the evolution of environmentally friendly technologies. This process is anticipated to utilize more efficiently the flexible generation and interconnections transmission capacity and provide environmental and economic benefits to final consumers. This paper presents a mixed integer linear programming model for the optimal scheduling of a power system (unit commitment problem) simulating the day-ahead electricity market. The model determines the optimal daily power generation mix, the electricity trade with neighboring countries, the evolution of the system's marginal price and the resulting environmental impact. The model incorporates CO2 emissions intensity constraints and introduces flexible ramping products, in addition to reserve requirements, aiming to identify their impacts on both operational and economic decisions. The model is applied on the Greek power system and its interconnections with neighboring power systems in Southeast Europe. The proposed approach can provide useful insights on the optimal generation and interconnections portfolio that meets the real electricity market operating needs of contemporary power systems with environmental and ramping capacity constraints.