A decentralized multi-area scheme for the real-time scheduling of the manually dispatched power systems: a case study of the Iran power system

This paper proposes a novel decentralized real-time scheduling framework for the power systems that rely on manual dispatching. Unlike advanced power systems that are equipped with automatic generation control (AGC), these systems cannot transmit a large number of dispatch instructions to power plants during intra-hour intervals, rendering standard real-time scheduling models unsuitable. The proposed framework involves all of the area operating centers (AOCs) in a real-time scheduling procedure. The AOCs receive the scheduled set points of the power plants and the tie-line flows based on the latest intra-day market (IDM), which is determined centrally by the national operating center (NOC). They then determine the new working point of each area based on the real-time system condition, and economic considerations such as the generation cost of the area’ power plants and power exchange ability with adjacent areas. To minimize the interference between the real-time decisions of the AOCs, the NOC defines an allowed band for tie-line power changeability. This study uses Iran’s power system as an example. It currently lacks a real-time scheduling structure, which has resulted in high costs in recent years. The proposed model is applied to the Khorasan AOC using real operational data and different simulation cases.