Composite system maintenance coordination in a deregulated environment

Composite system preventive maintenance scheduling is a challenging task in both vertically integrated and deregulated utility systems. The functional separation of generation and transmission in the new market environment creates operational and scheduling problems related to preventive maintenance. Maintenance schedules must be coordinated through an independent entity designated as the independent system operator (ISO) to assure reliable and economical service. The methods adopted by an ISO to coordinate planned outages are normally based on traditional load flow and stability analysis and deterministic operating criteria. This work proposes a method designated as the maintenance coordination technique (MCT) to coordinate composite system maintenance scheduling in a deregulated utility system.