A model for preventive maintenance scheduling of power plants minimizing cost

Abstract

This paper presents an approach to preventive maintenance scheduling of power plants for electric systems. The problem under study is an optimization problem and has been formulated with a cost-based criterion. The main aim is to know which power plants must stop their operation of elec-tricity production for periodic inspection over a time horizon. The management of this problem has a considerable impact on power system performance because an unexpected failure in a power plant may cause a general breakdown in an electric system. The main consequence would be that the elec-tric demand could be unsatisfied. The global electric system modeled comprises the most important types of power plants: thermal, hydroelectric, nuclear, and wind power plants. A realistic application example is included.