A Branch-and-Bound Algorithm for Unit Commitment

TLDR

The paper proposes a branch‑and‑bound approach to solve the unit commitment problem. The method models unit commitment with time‑dependent start‑up costs, demand and reserve constraints, minimum up/down times, no unit priority, and can be extended to probabilistic reserve constraints. Preliminary computational results demonstrate the method’s feasibility.

Abstract

A new approach is presented for solving the unit commitment problem based on branch-and-bound techniques. The method incorporates time-dependent start-up costs, demand and reserve constraints and minimum up and down time constraints. It does not require a priority ordering of the units. The method can be extended to allow for a probabilistic reserve constraint. Preliminary computational results are reported.