Optimal time-and-level-of-use price setting for an energy retailer

This paper presents a novel price setting optimization problem for an energy retailer in the smart grid. In this framework the retailer buys energy from multiple generators via bilateral contracts, and sells it to a population of smart homes using Time-and-Level-of-Use prices (TLOU). TLOU is an energy price structure recently introduced in the literature, where … Read more

Online matrix factorization for Markovian data and applications to Network Dictionary Learning

Online Matrix Factorization (OMF) is a fundamental tool for dictionary learning problems, giving an approximate representation of complex data sets in terms of a reduced number of extracted features. Convergence guarantees for most of the OMF algorithms in the literature assume independence between data matrices, and the case of a dependent data stream remains largely … Read more

The Convex Hull Heuristic for Nonlinear 0-1 Programming Problems with Linear Constraints

The Convex Hull Heuristic (CHH) is a heuristic for mixed-integer programming problems with a nonlinear objective function and linear constraints. It is a matheuristic in two ways: it is based on the mathematical programming algorithm called simplicial decomposition, or SD, and at each iteration, one solves a mixed-integer programming problem with a linear objective function … Read more

Dynamic Portfolio Selection with Linear Control Policies for Coherent Risk Minimization

This paper is concerned with a linear control policy for dynamic portfolio selection. We develop this policy by incorporating time-series behaviors of asset returns on the basis of coherent risk minimization. Analyzing the dual form of our optimization model, we demonstrate that the investment performance of linear control policies is directly connected to the intertemporal … Read more

Transmission Switching Under Wind Uncertainty Using Linear Decision Rules

Increasing penetration of wind and renewable generation poses significant challenges to the power system operations and reliability. This paper considers the real-time optimal transmission switching (OTS) problem for determining the generation dispatch and network topology that can account for uncertain energy resources. To efficiently solve the resultant two-stage stochastic program, we propose a tractable linear … Read more

Bridging Bayesian and Minimax Mean Square Error Estimation via Wasserstein Distributionally Robust Optimization

We introduce a distributionally robust minimium mean square error estimation model with a Wasserstein ambiguity set to recover an unknown signal from a noisy observation. The proposed model can be viewed as a zero-sum game between a statistician choosing an estimator—that is, a measurable function of the observation—and a fictitious adversary choosing a prior—that is, … Read more

Convergence Analysis and a DC Approximation Method for Data-driven Mathematical Programs with Distributionally Robust Chance Constraints

In this paper, we consider the convergence analysis of data-driven mathematical programs with distributionally robust chance constraints (MPDRCC) under weaker conditions without continuity assumption of distributionally robust probability functions. Moreover, combining with the data-driven approximation, we propose a DC approximation method to MPDRCC without some special tractable structures. We also give the convergence analysis of … Read more

Supermodularity in Two-Stage Distributionally Robust Optimization

In this paper, we solve a class of two-stage distributionally robust optimization problems which have the property of supermodularity. We exploit the explicit upper bounds on the expectation of supermodular functions and derive the worst-case distribution for the robust counterpart. This enables us to develop an efficient method to derive an exact optimal solution of … Read more

A Framework for Mathematical Optimization in Microservice Architectures

In the last years, the gap between solution methods in literature and optimization running in production has increased. Agile development practices, DevOps and modern cloud-based infrastructure call for a revisit of how optimization software is developed. We review the state-of-the-art, propose a development framework that can be applied across different programming languages and modeling frameworks … Read more

Optimization and Validation of Pumping System Design and Operation for Water Supply in High-Rise Buildings

The application of mathematical optimization methods provides the capacity to increase the energy efficiency and to lower the investment costs of technical systems, considerably. We present a system approach for the optimization of the design and operation of pumping systems and exemplify it by applying it to the water supply of high-rise buildings. The underlying … Read more