Optimal Production Planning of Electricity from Coal-Fired Power Plant Networks under Environmental Considerations

In this study, electricity production from a network of coal power plants and under environmental constraints is considered. Several pollutants are incorporated into the decision planning process including nitrogen oxides (NO_x), sulfur oxides (SO_x) and mercury (Hg). A Nonconvex Mixed Integer Nonlinear Programming (MINLP) model was first developed to assist in the evaluation process. An exact linearization of the nonconvex terms was then derived to reformulate the MINLP model into a mixed integer linear program (MILP). Several scenarios of electricity production planning and emission reduction targets are analyzed on a representative case study.