Monte Carlo computation of power generation production costs under operating constraints

This paper highlights the need for considering the stochastic processes associated with the frequency and duration of generating unit outages for assessing the mean and variance of production costs under operating constraints. A numerical example based on a Markov model is given to show that Monte Carlo estimates of these quantities may be incorrect if only the forced outage rates are used in place of the stochastic parameters underlying the outage frequency and duration. Additionally it describes a variance reduction procedure whereby the Monte Carlo estimates can be obtained with a much smaller sample size than would be required otherwise. A numerical example is given for a small system.