Optimum allocation of FCB thermal power plant using ordinal optimization theory

Fast Cut Back (FCB) thermal power units can be used as black-start units to boot up the power system after blackout. Based on the analysis of the important role of FCB units in restoring a power system, the optimal location of FCB units are determined with an optimization model. The objective function of this model is to minimize all the generators´ restoration time, considering the constraints such as generating units´ characteristics and transmission lines´ charging time, etc. Such a model is computational intensive due to its combinational nature. Ordinal Optimization technique is thus applied in this paper as an efficient tool to obtain enough good solutions with a high probability. This technique succeeds in reducing the computational burden remarkably and well satisfies the engineering requirements. The simulation results of a practical power system prove that the reasonable location of FCB units based on the optimization can significantly contribute to reduce the restoration time.