Evolutionary neural networks for strategic bidding in electricity markets

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a neural network‐based market agent, which develops optimal bidding strategies for a power generating company (Genco) in a day‐ahead electricity market.

Design/methodology/approach

The problem of finding optimal bidding strategy for a Genco is formulated as a two‐level optimization problem. At the top level, the Genco aims at maximizing its total daily profit, and at the bottom level, the independent system operator obtains the power dispatch quantity for each market participant with the objective of maximizing the social welfare. The neural network is trained using a particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm with the objective of maximizing daily profit for the Genco.

Findings

The effectiveness of the proposed approach is established through several case studies on the benchmark IEEE 30‐bus test system for the day‐ahead market, with an hourly clearing mechanism and dynamically changing demand profile. Both block bidding and linear supply function bidding are considered for the Gencos and the variation of optimal bidding strategy with the change in demand is investigated. The performance is also evaluated in the context of the Brazilian electricity market with real market data and compared with the other methods reported in the literature.

Practical implications

Strategic bidding is a peculiar phenomenon observed in an oligopolistic electricity market and has several implications on policy making and mechanism design. In this work, the transmission line constraints and demand side bidding are taken into account for a more realistic simulation.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper has introduced, for the first time, a neural network‐based market agent to develop optimal bidding strategies of a Genco in an electricity market. Simulation results obtained from the IEEE 30‐bus test system and the Brazilian electricity market demonstrate the superiority of the proposed approach, as compared to the conventional PSO‐based method and the genetic fuzzy rule‐based system approach, respectively.

Citation

Ranjan Hota, A., Bajpai, P. and Pratihar, D.K. (2012), "Evolutionary neural networks for strategic bidding in electricity markets", International Journal of Energy Sector Management, Vol. 6 No. 3, pp. 321-342. https://doi.org/10.1108/17506221211259637