A Lagrangian multiplier based sensitive index to determine the unit commitment of thermal units

This paper proposes the utilization of a new sensitivity index to organize a priority list for the solution of the unit commitment problem. The discrete nature of the operational decisions is mitigated through a continuous function. The new index is derived from Lagrangian multipliers and the nonlinear optimization problem is solved using optimum power flow (OPF) formulation based on the primal-dual interior point method. The priority list is obtained as a by-product of the Lagrangian multipliers associated with the ON–OFF decision. The efficiency of the proposed methodology is demonstrated through several tests.