A Direct Optimal Control of the Jebba Hydropower Station

The optimal power generation from the Jebba hydroelectric power station is subject to the reservoir operating head, weather-related factors, units’ availability and system dynamics. In this paper, a computer control system is designed to ensure safe operation and maximize power generation. The controller is an optimal controller, which determines the amount of inflow required to regulate the reservoir operating head. The control law is an optimal control procedure developed around the steepest descent and conjugate gradient algorithm. The algorithms determine the control signal and state trajectories for minimization of a performance index defined for the regulation of the reservoir operating head. The results show that the two techniques are feasible in estimating an optimal inflow needed to move the reservoir operating head from any level to the nominal head. The two techniques were compared under different operating conditions of the hydropower system, the conjugate gradient algorithm performs better in terms of computational time. The control algorithm is recommended for use in the realization of a computer control system for the station.