Survey on bidding strategies of hydro units in electricity market

According to characteristics of hydro units, bidding strategies and market power in pool market are summarized and remarked. As a heritage of vertical management mode, hydropower plants have to gear bidding strategies to assort with the operation of thermal power plants in interim period, which underestimates the efficiency of hydro units. While in completely competitive mode, an optimal operational model of reservoir in spot market is necessary. An improved model is possible to represent the transmission network restraint, unit commitment and system uncertainties. In order to harmonize benefits, cascaded plants of same firm can be aggregated as a bidding unit while the revenue allocation among different firms can be regulated by wholesale water market. The research on market power reveals that, hydro power producers may exercise market power by exploiting the price elasticity of demand across periods: allocate little supply to low periods and much to high periods. Further researches on the market position of hydropower plant, the competitive mode of local hydropower plant, the comprehensive utilization, the bidding strategy of cascaded hydropower plants, the spilled energy, the electricity price forecast, and the dispatch model and algorithm of cascaded hydroelectric plants in electricity market are needed.