Electricity market equilibrium of nonlinear power systems with reactive power control

The impact of reactive power control on the electricity market equilibrium is investigated. The effects of limitations on the reactive power generation and absorption, and load power factor adjustments, are examined using a novel electricity market equilibrium model that solves large-scale nonlinear power systems with asymmetric strategic firms. The algorithm implemented employs the linear supply function theory for bid-based pool markets. AC power flow analysis is used to represent the electricity network, incorporating variable price-responsive active and reactive load demands. The significance of the reactive power modeling in the electricity market equilibrium is demonstrated using the IEEE 14-bus and IEEE 118-bus systems. It is shown that variations on the reactive power in the system result in different market outcomes, as incentives are given to the strategic generating firms to alter their bidding strategies. The convergence characteristics of the IEEE 118-bus system are graphically presented and discussed to demonstrate the superior computational performance of the proposed algorithm in producing results under strict binding constraints and heavy transmission congestion conditions. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved