Comparing stochastic optimization methods to solve the medium-term operation planning problem

The Medium-Term Operation Planning (MTOP) of hydrothermal systems aims to define the generation for each power plant, minimizing the expected operating cost over the planning horizon. Mathematically, this task can be characterized as a linear, stochastic, large-scale problem which requires the application of suitable optimization tools. To solve this problem, this paper proposes to use the Nested Decomposition, frequently used to solve similar problems (as in Brazilian case), and Progressive Hedging, an alternative method, which has interesting features that make it promising to address this problem. To make a comparative analysis between these two methods with respect to the quality of the solution and the computational burden, a benchmark is established, which is obtained by solving a single Linear Programming problem (the Deterministic Equivalent Problem). An application considering a hydrothermal system is carried out.