A new approach to reduce the expected energy not supplied in a power plant located in a non-expandable transmission system

The main objective of most of power plants is to inject power as much as possible into the grid from the power plants. However, the transmission system may restrain the output capability of the power plant, especially, if the power plant is located in an area of non-expandable transmission system. In this situation, any disturbance in the nearby transmission system may force the plant to generate lower than its rated value, which disables it from selling the remaining available generated power to the costumers and also increases the cost of energy not supplied. In this paper, an efficient method is proposed to determine the maximum output capacity of the power plant, by which the avoidable cost of energy not supplied, is not burdened on the plant. The effectiveness of the proposed method has been evaluated on a three machine test system and also on the actual large Mashhad power plant in Iran

A new approach to reduce the non-linear characteristics of a stressed power system by using the normal form technique in the control design of the excitation system

In this paper, a new approach is presented to reduce the nonlinear characteristics of a stressed power system by reducing its second-order modal interaction through retuning some parameters of the generator excitation system. In order to determine the second-order modal interaction of the system, a new index on nonlinearity is developed using normal form theory. Using the proposed index of nonlinearity, a sensitivity function is formed to indicate the most effective excitation system parameters in the nonlinear behavior of the system. These dominant parameters are tuned to reduce the second-order modal interaction of the system and to reduce the index on nonlinearity. The efficiency of the proposed method is validated using a four-machine two-area test system. Simulation results show that a proper tuning of the excitation controller can reduce the second-order modal interaction of the system and can even improve the transient stability margin of the network

An improved mechanism for capacity payment based on system dynamics modeling for investment planning in competitive electricity environment

Many countries have experienced restructuring in their electric utilities. This restructuring has presented the power industries with new challenges, the most important of which is long-term investment planning under uncertain conditions. This paper presents an improved mechanism for capacity payment. The mechanism has been investigated based on system dynamic modeling. In our proposed mechanism, generators will recover a part of their investment through capacity payment. While the payment for any plant remains constant during the operation period, it depends on the investment needed to build it. The main factors affecting long-term planning have been considered in our model. The approach can be used to investigate the effects of fixed as well as variable capacity payment in market investment. We used the probability density function of load as a new concept to calculate average market price. Delays in unit constructions, estimation of demand, and market capacity growth during construction periods have been included in the proposed algorithm as parameters, which affect the regulator's decision for changing capacity payment. The model can be used by regulators to investigate strategies that may affect the fluctuations in the market.System dynamics Power market Generation investment

Unlocking the Genetic Diversity within A Middle-East Panel of Durum Wheat Landraces for Adaptation to Semi-arid Climate

Drought is the major environmental factor limiting wheat production worldwide. Developing novel cultivars with greater drought tolerance is the most viable solution to ensure sustainable agricultural production and alleviating threats to food-security. Here we established a core-collection of landraces and modern durum wheat cultivars (WheatME, n = 36), from the Middle East region (Jordan, Palestine and Israel) aiming at unlocking the genetic and morpho-physiological adaptation to semi-arid environment conditions. Interestingly, genetic analysis of the WheatME core-collection could not distinguish the landraces according to their country of origin. Field-based evaluation of the core-collection conducted across range of contrasting environmental conditions: Til-Palestine, Bet-Dagan-Israel and Irbid-Jordan with annual precipitation of 500 mm, 360 mm and 315 mm, respectively. The Til environment showed highest grain yield while the Irbid environment showed the lowest values. Analysis of variance showed a significant Genotype × Environment interaction for plant phenology traits (plant height and heading date) and productivity traits (1000-kernel weight, and grain yield). Principal component analysis showed three main cultivar groups: High yielding lines (modern durum cultivars, and landraces), tall late flowering landraces, and landraces with high grain weight. This knowledge could serve as basis for future breeding efforts to develop new elite cultivars adapted to the Mediterranean Basin’s semi-arid conditions