Maintenance Scheduling Optimization in Power Systems

Maintenance scheduling in power systems is a critical discipline that seeks to balance the need for reliable electricity supply with economic and regulatory constraints. Preventive maintenance of generation units, transmission lines and associated infrastructure mitigates the risk of forced outages, asset degradation and unplanned repair costs. The optimisation of maintenance intervals and outage timing is intrinsically linked to unit commitment and dispatch decisions, as taken by independent system operators or generation companies, to ensure that system adequacy and security criteria are met. A wide array of mathematical frameworks has been developed for this purpose, ranging from mixed-integer programming formulations that handle technical constraints and cost minimisation to stochastic and risk-based models that incorporate equipment failure probabilities and contingency scenarios. In deregulated markets, multi-objective approaches are increasingly employed to reconcile competing interests of market participants, regulators and end users, taking into account not only operational cost but also revenue maximisation, emission targets and the integration of renewable resources. Advances in metaheuristic algorithms and decomposition techniques have further enabled the efficient solution of high-dimensional, non-convex scheduling problems. Practical applications span combined heat and power systems, large hydroelectric facilities and gas-turbine plants, illustrating how tailored optimisation methods can deliver significant improvements in reliability, cost efficiency and environmental performance on national and inter-regional scales.

Research from Nature Portfolio

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Research from all publishers

A hybrid multi-objective model combining the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm III with dual-simplex techniques has been proposed to address coupled generation and transmission maintenance scheduling in deregulated environments. This approach generates a Pareto-optimal set of maintenance plans that balances system operational cost and adequacy, offering decision-makers a spectrum of trade-off solutions in standard test networks. In another development, a bi-level multi-area scheduling framework has been formulated to coordinate high-voltage line outages across regional spot markets while accommodating variable renewable energy. By transforming the bi-level problem into a single-level mixed-integer programme using complementarity constraints, the method improves inter-area maintenance coordination and renewables integration. A further study has introduced an interchangeable bidding mechanism for generation unit maintenance in inter-ISO settings. In this two-layer scheme, generation companies may bid for preferred outage slots and trade supportive energy with neighbouring systems. The resulting mixed-integer second-order cone programming problem can be solved by modern solvers, illustrating enhanced flexibility for asset owners and strengthened system reliability.

Maintenance Scheduling Optimization in Power Systems publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in maintenance scheduling optimization in power systems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Mixed-Integer Programming: An optimisation framework in which decision variables may be continuous or integer-valued, used to model scheduling with discrete maintenance events and operational constraints.

Multi-objective Optimisation: An approach that identifies trade-off solutions among two or more conflicting objectives, such as cost minimisation and reliability maximisation.

Bi-level Programming: A hierarchical optimisation structure with an upper-level decision maker and a lower-level optimiser, common in deregulated markets where system operators and generators interact.

Unit Commitment: The process of determining which generation units to run and at what output levels over a planning horizon, often coordinated with maintenance scheduling to meet demand securely and economically.

References

1. Hybrid NSGA III/dual simplex approach to generation and transmission maintenance scheduling. International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems (2022).
2. Multi-area transmission maintenance scheduling for two-level markets. Energy Reports (2023).
3. A bidding mechanism for maintenance of generation units considering inter-ISO power exchange. International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems (2023).
4. Generation Units Maintenance in Combined Heat and Power Integrated Systems Using the Mixed Integer Quadratic Programming Approach. Energies (2020).
5. Maintenance Schedule Optimization Applied to Large Hydroelectric Plants: Towards a Methodology Encompassing Regulatory Aspects. IEEE Access (2021).
6. Optimizing the Maintenance Schedule of a Combined Cycle Gas Turbine Considering Different Maintenance Types and Operating Hours. IEEE Access (2022).
7. Risk-Based Coordination of Maintenance Scheduling and Unit Commitment in Power Systems. IEEE Access (2020).