This paper describes a short term hydro generation optimization program that has been developed by the Hydro Electric Commission (HEC) to determine optimal generation schedules and to investigate export and import capabilities of the Tasmanian system under a proposed DC interconnection with mainland Australia. The optimal hydro scheduling problem is formulated as a large scale linear programming algorithm and is solved using a commercially-available linear programming package. The selected objective function requires minimization of the value of energy used by turbines and spilled during the study period. Alternative formulations of the objective function are also discussed. The system model incorporates the following elements: hydro station (turbine efficiency, turbine flow limits, penstock head losses, tailrace elevation and generator losses), hydro system (reservoirs and hydro network: active volume, spillway flow, flow between reservoirs and travel time), and other models including thermal plant and DC link. A valuable by-product of the linear programming solution is system and unit incremental costs which may be used for interchange scheduling and short-term generation dispatch.
