Optimization Tools for the Operational Dispatch of Power Generation Systems to Reduce Diesel Fuel Consumption

Abstract

Bolivia, despite being a relatively small country, has several small cities far away for the National Interconnected System. For this reason, these cities have Isolated Systems and almost 70% of their installed power are generated through thermoelectric plants, which ended up being a problem because of the high diesel fuel consumption. The diesel fuel supply in Bolivia is not guaranteed because the country depends on importation at very high prices. In this sense, this study intends to reduce the diesel consumption of the isolated power generation systems in Bolivia using an operational dispatch optimization model. First, there were chosen 3 Isolated systems in Bolivia, the Cobija Hybrid System, the Sena Hybrid System and the Gonzalo Moreno System. The latter is a purely thermal system, while the other two are hybrid systems (thermal and photovoltaic plants). Then, a comprehensive analysis of the power demand and supply has been completed for the three cases. Subsequently, an optimization model has been developed using the software Matlab and its complementary package knows as the Optimization Tool Box. Using this model, a comparison has been made between the operational dispatch of the energy system with and without optimization. The results indicate that it would be possible to save 2211 L/day, 182 L/day and 73 L/day of diesel consumption with an optimization process for the Cobija Hybrid System, the Sena Hybrid System and the Gonzalo Moreno Systems, respectively. These diesel fuel savings would represent more than 1.31 MM$ in money savings for the Bolivian Government.