Optimal operation of a pumped-storage hydro plant that compensates the imbalances of a wind power producer

The participation of wind energy in electricity markets requires providing a forecast for future energy production of a wind generator, whose value will be its scheduled energy. Deviations from this schedule because of prediction errors could imply the payment of imbalance costs. In order to decrease these costs, a joint operation between a wind farm and a hydro-pump plant is proposed; the hydro-pump plant changes its production to compensate wind power prediction errors. In order to optimize this operation, the uncertainty of the wind power forecast is modeled and quantified. This uncertainty is included in an optimization problem that shifts the production of the hydro-pump plant in an optimal way, aiming at reducing the imbalance costs. The result of such a method is profitable for both participants, the wind farm and the hydro-pump plant. A realistic test case is used to evaluate the proposed method. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.