Optimal power system flexibility-based scheduling in iron and steel production: A case of steelmaking–refining–continuous casting process

Steelmaking–refining–continuous casting (SRCC), as a key electricity-intensive and flexible process in the integrated iron and steel production route, has great potential in providing demand-side flexibility. Optimal scheduling of flexible resources is important for ensuring maximal flexibility. However, it is not considered in existing SRCC scheduling studies, leading to a low ability to provide operational flexibility at iron and steel production sites and an inability to support the sites to participate in flexibility transactions and reduce energy costs. To fill in the research gaps, a Basic resource–task network (RTN) model and a Flex RTN model for SRCC scheduling considering refining process flexibility are established. With minimizing the power cost of the process as the objective function, the Flex RTN model takes various load modes of refining ladle furnaces into account and provides an approach for the scheduling of flexible resources in the iron and steel sites. The energy cost of iron and steel sites under the Flex RTN model considering flexible resources is compared with that of the Basic RTN model without considering flexible resources. The results of a 2-min time step case study show that 12,000 yuan can be saved by implementing the flexibility-based scheduling, proving the technical and economic superiority of the proposed method.