Multi-Time-Scale Optimization and Control Method for High-Penetration Photovoltaic Electrolytic Aluminum Plants

Lixin Wu, Qunhai Huo, Qiran Liu (), Jingyuan Yin and Jie Yang
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Lixin Wu: The Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Qunhai Huo: The Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Qiran Liu: The Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Jingyuan Yin: The Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Jie Yang: The Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 21, 1-19

Abstract: In response to the high energy consumption and carbon emission issues in the electrolytic aluminum industry, this paper proposes a multi-time-scale optimization and control method for electrolytic aluminum plants with high photovoltaic penetration. First, a plant architecture is established, which includes traditional power systems, renewable energy systems, and electrolytic aluminum loads. A mathematical model for flexible resources such as thermal power units, on-load tap-changing transformers, thyristor-controlled voltage regulators, saturable reactors, and electrolytic cells is developed. Based on this, a two-level optimization control strategy is designed, consisting of a day-ahead and real-time control layer: the day-ahead layer targets economic and low-carbon operation, while the real-time layer aims to stabilize the DC bus voltage. Using actual data from an electrolytic aluminum plant in Southwest China, simulations are conducted on the MATLAB 2021a platform, and the effectiveness of the strategy is verified through hardware-in-the-loop experiments. The results demonstrate that the proposed method can effectively increase the photovoltaic utilization rate, reduce thermal power output and operational costs, and decrease carbon emissions, providing a feasible solution for the green and low-carbon transformation of the electrolytic aluminum industry.

Keywords: high photovoltaic penetration; multi-time-scale control; electrolytic aluminum load regulation; low-carbon operation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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