This workshop aims to provide systems and control researchers with, 1) an understanding of the challenges of power system operation in the presence of generation uncertainty arising from renewable energy sources, and 2) methodologies for achieving optimal and reliable operation. Generation uncertainty may significantly increase operational costs due to the resulting stochastic formulation and the additional reserve requirements. Existing optimal power flow (OPF) and reserve scheduling algorithms need to be reformulated to provide solutions that are reliable with respect to uncertainty. The workshop will initially focus on a specific class of stochastic optimization tools that can provide solutions with probabilistic performance guarantees. Those tools build on scenario-based optimization and may be applied to both convex and non- convex problems. The workshop will then provide an overview of power flow models and establish optimal power flow formulations. Finally, the workshop will present stochastic formulations of the optimal power flow and reserve scheduling problems, and demonstrate how scenario-based optimization techniques can be applied to achieve reliable and cost-effective operation. Various forms of policy-based feedback control will be presented for generator reserve deployment, and extensions to other forms of controllable resources will be considered. A discussion of the effects of policies on economic performance will be provided.
Target audience: The workshop is intended for systems and control researchers who have interests in the large-scale integration of renewable energy sources in power systems. The expected audience includes engineers and scientists from industry and academia. The workshop will be self-contained so that it is suitable for participants who may not have prior familiarity with the topics.