Solving net constrained hydrothermal Nash-Cournot equilibrium problems via proximal decomposition methods

Abstract

We consider the coupled-in-time Nash-Cournot equilibrium model representing behavior of electricity generating companies acting in an oligopolistic market. Some key features of the model are short-term planning horizon, the possibility for the hydraulic units to pump water back in order to reuse it, and transmission net constraints. Mathematically, it is shown that the problem can be cast as a monotone variational inclusion with some special structure suitable for decomposition. Then the variable metric proximal decomposition method is applied. Some numerical experiments are presented, including a medium-size real-life system. Among other things, it is quantied when the policy of pumping water back can deliver better prots in water-stressed scenarios.