THE MULTI–FACILITY LOCATION PROBLEM: A PROBABILISTIC DECOMPOSITION METHOD

A generalized Weiszfeld method is proposed for the multi–facility location problem. The problem is relaxed using probabilistic assignments, and is decomposed into single facility location problems, that are coupled by these assignments, and can be solved in parallel. The probabilistic assignments are updated at each iteration, using the distances to the current centers. The method … Read more

Optimal management and sizing of energy storage under dynamic pricing for the efficient integration of renewable energy

In this paper, we address the optimal energy storage management and sizing problem in the presence of renewable energy and dynamic pricing. We formulate the problem as a stochastic dynamic programming problem that aims to minimize the long-term average cost of conventional generation used as well as investment in storage, if any, while satisfying all … Read more

Multi-Range Robust Optimization vs Stochastic Programming in Prioritizing Project Selection

This paper describes a multi-range robust optimization approach applied to the problem of capacity investment under uncertainty. In multi-range robust optimization, an uncertain parameter is allowed to take values from more than one uncertainty range. We consider a number of possible projects with anticipated costs and cash flows, and an investment decision to be made … Read more

Improving the Performance of Stochastic Dual Dynamic Programming

This paper is concerned with tuning the Stochastic Dual Dynamic Programming algorithm to make it more computationally efficient. We report the results of some computational experiments on a large-scale hydrothermal scheduling model developed for Brazil. We find that the best improvements in computation time are obtained from an implementation that increases the number of scenarios … Read more

Robust Decision Making using a General Utility Set

We develop the concept of utility robustness to address the problem of ambiguity and inconsistency in utility assessments. A robust decision-making framework is built on a utility set which characterizes a decision maker’s risk attitude described by boundary and auxiliary conditions. This framework is studied using the Sample Average Approximation (SAA) approach. We show the … Read more

Algorithms for the Cross-dock Door Assignment Problem

In a cross-dock facility, goods are moved by forklift from incoming truck platforms (strip doors) to temporary holding areas and then to outgoing truck platforms (stack doors) or directly from strip doors to stack doors. Costs within the cross-dock may be minimized by appropriate assignment of strip doors to incoming trucks and stack doors to … Read more

Aircraft deconfliction with speed regulation: new models from mixed-integer optimization

Detecting and solving aircraft conflicts, which occur when aircraft sharing the same airspace are too close to each other according to their predicted trajectories, is a crucial problem in Air Traffic Management. We focus on mixed-integer optimization models based on speed regulation. We first solve the problem to global optimality by means of an exact … Read more

A Capacitated Network Flow Optimization Approach for Short Notice Evacuation Planning

We present a capacity constrained network flow optimization approach for finding evacuation paths, flows and schedules so as to maximize the total evacuees for short notice evacuation planning (SNEP). Due to dynamic nature of this optimization problem, we first construct a timeexpanded network that expands the static network over the planning horizon for every time … Read more

Scenario Trees – A Process Distance Approach

The approximation of stochastic processes by trees is an important topic in multistage stochastic programming. In this paper we focus on improving the approximation of large trees by smaller (tractable) trees. The quality of the approximation is measured by the nested distance, recently introduced in [Pflug]. The nested distance is derived from the Wasserstein distance. … Read more

Open versus closed loop capacity equilibria in electricity markets under perfect and oligopolistic competition

We consider two game-theoretic models of the generation capacity expansion problem in liberalized electricity markets. The first is an open loop equilibrium model, where generation companies simultaneously choose capacities and quantities to maximize their individual profit. The second is a closed loop model, in which companies first choose capacities maximizing their profit anticipating the market … Read more