Andrew Hamann

Advisor(s):

Gabriela Hug

Research Project Description:
My research is on how optimized real-time optimization of cascaded hydropower plants can improve efficiency and support the integration of variable wind generation. My research uses a dynamic model of a hydropower system, implemented using a model predictive control framework, as the centerpiece of an optimization scheme that minimizes flow while satisfying net load (i.e., demand minus wind generation). This optimization model accounts for the important variables in hydropower generation: reservoir elevation, dynamic tailrace elevation, turbine-generator efficiency, and water travel times. The goal of my research is to use this improved hydraulic and hydropower generation model to assess the impacts of hydropower coordination on the Mid-Columbia River hydropower system. We want to estimate the economic impacts of optimal coordinated control and determine how much installed wind generation the Mid-Columbia system can successfully balance. Additionally, we intend to evaluate how a different coordination scheme might affect the policy structures that currently regulate the Mid-Columbia River and the Pacific Northwest electricity system.

Research Interests:Electricity markets, applied optimization, hydropower coordination, utility operations

Publications:

Conference Publications

A. Hamann, G. Hug, “Real-Time Optimization of a Hydropower Cascade using a Linear Modeling Approach,” submitted

Awards/Fellowships:

Steinbrenner Institute Robert W. Dunlap Graduate Fellowship, 2013-2014
Hydro Research Foundation Hydro Fellowship, 2013-2014
Bertucci Graduate Fellowship, 2012
Virginia and Ernest Cockrell, Jr. Scholarship in Engineering, 2008-2012
National Coal Transportation Association Member’s Children Scholarship, 2011