An adjustable robust optimization approach to scheduling of continuous industrial processes providing interruptible load

•Consider the provision/selling of interruptible load by power-intensive plants.•Use detailed discrete-time scheduling formulation to model the production process.•Characterize uncertainty in load reduction demand by budget uncertainty set.•Apply adjustable robust optimization approach to account for recourse decisions.•Practical insights are drawn from a real-world industrial case study.

To ensure the stability of the power grid, backup capacities are called upon when electricity supply does not meet demand due to unexpected changes in the grid. As part of the demand response efforts in recent years, large electricity consumers are encouraged by financial incentives to provide such operating reserve in the form of load reduction capacities (interruptible load). However, a major challenge lies in the uncertainty that one does not know in advance when load reduction will be requested. In this work, we develop a scheduling model for continuous industrial processes providing interruptible load. An adjustable robust optimization approach, which incorporates recourse decisions using linear decision rules, is applied to model the uncertainty. The proposed model is applied to an illustrative example as well as a real-world air separation case. The results show the benefits from selling interruptible load and the value of considering recourse in the decision-making.