The Optimal Energy Procurement Problem: A Stochastic Programming Approach

Abstract

The paper analyzes the problem of the optimal procurement plan at a strategic level for a set of prosumers aggregated within a coalition. Electric energy needs can be covered through bilateral contracts, self-production and the pool. Signing bilateral contracts reduces the risk associated with the volatility of pool prices usually incurring higher average prices. Self-producing also reduces the risk related to pool prices. On the other hand, relying mostly on the pool might result in an unacceptable volatility of procurement cost. The problem of defining the right mix among the different sources is complicated by the high uncertainty affecting the parameters involved in the decision process (future market prices, energy demand, self-production from renewable sources). We address this more challenging problem by adopting the stochastic programming framework. The resulting model belongs to the class of two-stage model with recourse. The computational results carried out by considering a real case study shows the validity of the proposed approach.