Artificial intelligence tools, which are fast, robust and adaptive can overcome the drawbacks of traditional solutions for several power systems problems. In this work, applications of AI techniques have been studied for solving two important problems in power systems. The first problem is static security evaluation (SSE). The objective of SSE is to identify the contingencies in planning and operations of power systems. Numerical conventional solutions are time-consuming, computationally expensive, and are not suitable for online applications. SSE may be considered as a binary-classification, multi-classification or regression problem. In this work, multi-support vector machine is combined with several evolutionary computation algorithms, including particle swarm optimization (PSO), differential evolution, Ant colony optimization for the continuous domain, and harmony search techniques to solve the SSE. Moreover, support vector regression is combined with modified PSO with a proposed modification on the inertia weight in order to solve the SSE. Also, the correct accuracy of classification, the speed of training, and the final cost of using power equipment heavily depend on the selected input features. In this dissertation, multi-object PSO has been used to solve this problem. Furthermore, a multi-classifier voting scheme is proposed to get the final test output. The classifiers participating in the voting scheme include multi-SVM with different types of kernels and random forests with an adaptive number of trees. In short, the development and performance of different machine learning tools combined with evolutionary computation techniques have been studied to solve the online SSE. The performance of the proposed techniques is tested on several benchmark systems, namely the IEEE 9-bus, 14-bus, 39-bus, 57-bus, 118-bus, and 300-bus power systems. The second problem is the non-convex, nonlinear, and non-differentiable economic dispatch (ED) problem. The purpose of solving the ED is to improve the cost-effectiveness of power generation. To solve ED with multi-fuel options, prohibited operating zones, valve point effect, and transmission line losses, genetic algorithm (GA) variant-based methods, such as breeder GA, fast navigating GA, twin removal GA, kite GA, and United GA are used. The IEEE systems with 6-units, 10-units, and 15-units are used to study the efficiency of the algorithms.

The growth of electricity markets around the world has introduced new challenges in which one of the challenges is the uncertainty that has become a structural element in this new environment. Market players have to deal with it to guarantee the appropriate power system planning and operation as well as its own economical liquidity. Under an open access environment in a deregulated power system, transmission management holds a vital role in supporting transactions between suppliers and customers. Nevertheless, a transmission network has some constraints that should be addressed in order to ensure sufficient control to maintain the security level of a power system while maximizing market efficiency. The most obvious drawback of transmission constraints is a congestion problem that becomes an obstacle of perfect competition among the market participants since it can influence spot market pricing. The system becomes congested when the supplier and customer agree to produce and consume a particular amount of electric power, but this can cause the transmission network to exceed its thermal limits. Congestion can cause the market players to exercise market power that can result in price volatility beyond the marginal costs. Thus, it is important to manage congestion efficiently in the design of a power market. One mechanism that has direct correlation with transmission management is market clearing price (MCP). Under an open access environment, energy prices throughout the network will be different and measured based on transmission constraint and network losses. When network losses are ignored and there is no congestion on the transmission lines, the power price will be the same at all nodes. This is known as uniform marginal pricing (UMP). However, as the power flow violates transmission constraints, redispatching generating units is required and this will cause the price at every node to vary. This phenomenon is defined as locational marginal pricing (LMP). Therefore, the market clearing price has a strong relationship with transmission management, which is needed to be assessed in order to obtain an efficient and transparent price but satisfying all market participants. This project investigates an alternative solution to the dispatch mechanism, and then formulates a new Locational Marginal Price scheme using optimization technique that may well control congestion as the main issue. The model will vary and be improved, to be distilled into energy price, congestion revenue, cost of losses, as well as transmission usage tariff. The objective of the project is to support developing standard market design (SMD) in managing transmission systems which promotes economic efficiency, lowers delivered energy costs, maintains power system reliability and mitigates exercising market power.

Through integrated modeling of power system operations and market risks, this thesis addresses a variety of important issues on market signals modeling, generation capacity scheduling, and electricity forward trading. The first part of the thesis addresses a central problem of transmission investment which is to model market signals for transmission adequacy. The proposed system simulation framework, combined with the stochastic price model, provides a powerful tool for capturing the characteristics of market prices dynamics and evaluating transmission investment. We advocate the use of an AC power flow formulations instead since it allocates transmission losses correctly and reveals the economic incentives of voltage requirements. By incorporating reliability constraints in the market dispatch, the resulting market prices yield incentives for market participants to invest in additional transmission capacity. The second part of the thesis presents a co-optimization modeling framework that incorporates market participation and market price uncertainties into the capacity allocation decision-making problem through a stochastic programming formulation. Optimal scenario-dependent generation scheduling strategies are obtained. The third part of the thesis is devoted to analyzing the risk premium present in the electricity day-ahead forward price over the real-time spot price. This study establishes a quantitative model for incorporating transmission congestion into the analysis of electricity day-ahead forward risk premium. Evidences from empirical studies confirm the significant statistical relationship between the day-ahead forward risk premium and the shadow price premiums on transmission flowgates.

Thermal energy storage (TES), the storage of heat or cooling, is a cost-effective energy storage technology that can greatly enhance the performance of the energy systems with which it interacts. TES acts as a buffer between transient supply and demand of energy. In solar thermal systems, TES enables the power output of the plant to be effectively regulated, despite fluctuating solar irradiance. In district energy systems, TES can be used to shift loads, allowing the system to avoid or take advantage of peak energy prices. The benefit of TES, however, can be significantly enhanced by dynamically optimizing the complete energy system. The ability of TES to shift loads gives the system newfound degrees of freedom which can be exploited to yield optimal performance. In the hybrid solar thermal/fossil fuel system explored in this work, the use of TES enables the system to extract nearly 50% more solar energy when the system is optimized. This requires relaxing some constraints, such as fixed temperature and power control, and dynamically optimizing the over a one-day time horizon. In a district cooling system, TES can help equipment to run more efficiently, by shifting cooling loads, not only between chillers, but temporally, allowing the system to take advantage of the most efficient times for running this equipment. This work also highlights the use of TES in a district energy system, where heat, cooling and electrical power are generated from central locations. Shifting the cooling load frees up electrical generation capacity, which is used to sell power to the grid at peak prices. The combination of optimization, TES, and participation in the electricity market yields a 16% cost savings. The problems encountered in this work require modeling a diverse range of systems including the TES, the solar power plant, boilers, gas and steam turbines, heat recovery equipment, chillers, and pumps. These problems also require novel solution methods that are efficient and effective at obtaining workable solutions. A simultaneous solution method is used for optimizing the solar power plant, while a static/dynamic decoupling method is used for the district energy system. / text

Σκοπός αυτής της Διπλωματικής είναι η μελέτη του προβλήματος οικονομικής κατανομής φορτίου και η μελέτη του προβλήματος ένταξης μονάδων ενός καθαρά θερμικού συστήματος. Το πρόβλημα της οικονομικής κατανομής φορτίου και της ένταξης μονάδων εξετάζονται αρχικά θεωρητικά. Στα πλαίσια αυτής της Διπλωματικής γίνεται και εφαρμογή της οικονομικής κατανομής φορτίου και της ένταξης μονάδων σ' ένα ενδεικτικό δίκτυο δοκιμών με χρήση Η/Υ. Για την οικονομική κατανομή φορτίου χρησιμοποιείται το πρόγραμμα Economic Dispatch Program και για την ένταξη μονάδων, τα προγράμματα Unit Commitment και Unitcom. Επίσης εξετάζεται συνοπτικά το Ελληνικό σύστημα ηλεκτρικής ενέργειας και δίνονται τα βασικά σημεία της Απελευθέρωσης Αγοράς Ηλεκτρικής Ενέργειας στην Ελλάδα. / This diploma essay's purpose is to study the economic dispatch problem and the unit commitment problem of a simple thermal power system. Initially, the economic dispatch problem and the unit commitment problem are examined theoretically. In this essay takes place an application of the economic dispatch problem and an application of the unit commitment problem, in an indicative test network, with the use of a PC. For the economic dispatch problem is used the Economic Dispatch Program and for the unit commitment problem are used the Unit Commitment and Unitcom programs. Furthermore, in this essay are concisely examined the Hellenic power system and the release of the Hellenic electric market.

La guerre franco-prussienne (ou franco-allemande) de 1870-71 fut un conflit majeur dont l’issue changea considérablement l’équilibre des puissances en Europe avec notamment l’émergence de l’Empire allemand. Pourtant, elle a été oubliée. Bien que depuis la fin du XIXe siècle, elle fut largement traitée par l’historiographie, la question des responsabilités relativement à son déclenchement demeure un sujet de débat. Tandis que certains historiens estiment que cette guerre fut sciemment provoquée par Bismarck afin de parachever l’unification allemande, d’autres croient que la responsabilité est partagée et que ce conflit était tout simplement inévitable dans le contexte du refroidissement des rapports franco-allemands depuis la défaite autrichienne de Königgrätz (Sadowa). Le présent mémoire entend se dissocier de ces interprétations en jetant un nouveau regard sur le rôle joué par Bismarck lors des « préliminaires » (Vorgeschichte) de 1870. En s’appuyant sur des sources primaires ainsi que sur ce que les historiographies allemande, française et anglo-saxonne nous apprennent, il sera démontré premièrement que la candidature Hohenzollern pour le trône d’Espagne n’a pas été « fabriquée » volontairement par le chef de la diplomatie prussienne afin de compléter l’unification allemande, mais qu’elle fut promue d’abord et avant tout pour des considérations de prestige politique. Deuxièmement, la fameuse dépêche d’Ems modifiée par Bismarck ne peut être considérée comme l’élément déclencheur de ce conflit, car la décision d’aller en guerre fut prise à Paris avant que les effets de la dépêche ne se fassent sentir. Enfin, par son besoin d’un succès politico-diplomatique qui aurait consolidé le Second Empire en faisant oublier les reculades antérieures, par son refus de se satisfaire du retrait de la candidature Hohenzollern et par les erreurs de sa politique étrangère en général, la France a adopté une position belliqueuse et s’est retrouvée seule dans une guerre qu’elle n’avait su ni prévenir, ni préparer. L’enjeu à Paris n’était finalement pas le règlement pacifique des différends avec la Prusse, mais la pérennisation de la prépondérance française sur le continent européen. / The Franco-Prussian War (or Franco-German War) of 1870-71 was a major conflict, where the outcome dramatically changed the balance of power in Europe, including the emergence of the German Empire. However, it has been forgotten. Although since the late nineteenth century it was widely discussed by historians, the issue of liability with respect to its outbreak remains a matter of debate. While some historians believe that this war was deliberately provoked by Bismarck in order to complete the unification of Germany, others believe that the responsibility was shared and that this conflict was simply inevitable in the context of the worsening of Franco-German relations, since the Austrian defeat at Königgrätz (Sadowa), in 1866. This thesis aims to dissociate itself from these interpretations by providing new insight regarding the role played by Bismarck during the “preliminaries” (Vorgeschichte) of 1870. Through the use of primary sources and German, French and Anglo-Saxon historiography, it will be shown first that the Hohenzollern candidature for the Spanish throne was not “made” voluntarily by the chief of the Prussian diplomacy to complement the German unification, but was promoted first and foremost for reasons of political prestige. Secondly, the famous Ems telegram amended by Bismarck cannot be seen as the trigger of this conflict, as the decision to go to war was taken in Paris before the negative effects of the message were felt. Finally, through its need of a political and diplomatic success that would have consolidated the Second Empire by forgetting earlier setbacks, through its refusal to show full satisfaction with the withdrawal of the Hohenzollern candidature and through the misconduct of its foreign policy in general, France adopted a bellicose position and found itself alone in a war it could neither prevent nor prepare. The issue in Paris was ultimately not the peaceful settlement of disputes with Prussia, but the perpetuation of French dominance on the European continent.

全球化趨勢帶動兩岸經貿交流互動，中國大陸從世界工廠成為世界市場，外資紛紛轉往中國大陸投資設廠。然而，因為台灣與中國大陸擁有相同語言及文化背景，也使得台灣企業及科技人才比其它企業擁有更多的優勢及機會。台灣企業大舉投資中國大陸並在中國設立生產基地，台灣科技人才必需扮演中間溝通、技術移轉的角色。而台灣科技人才也將面臨因此現況帶來的機會與挑戰。作者將提出經濟全球化與全球及對兩岸的影響、台灣企業投資大陸設廠及台灣科技人才到中國大陸工作的原因;並透過深度訪談了解台灣科技人才的想法及意見及提出在就業上的建議給台灣科技人才及台灣企業人力資源管理政策上的建議以留住人才、減少因產業外移中國大陸而造成人才流失。 / Globalization helps cross-strait economic exchange. China is transitioning from just being a “world-factory” to also being a “world-market.” Foreign investments have been flowing into China; foreign companies set up branches and factories in China. When Taiwanese enterprises move their production lines to China, Taiwanese S&T talent needs to play roles in communications, training and skill transfers. Taiwanese investors and companies, however, have the advantage over their global competitors of sharing the same language and culture with China, which affords Taiwanese enterprises and talent (skilled workers) more opportunities than other countries. At the same time, there are some challenges that Taiwanese science and technology talent needs to face. The author will first describe the patterns of economic globalization in the world, especially between Taiwan and China. The author will then present some of the reasons that Taiwanese enterprises invest in China engage in science and technology work in China. The author will supplement the trend analysis with details from in-depth interviews with some Taiwanese industry S&T workers to propose suggestions to Taiwanese professionals, to human resource management and for trans-national labor policy -- with a particular eye towards retention of talent and know-how and to avoid “brain-drain”.

The growth of electricity markets around the world has introduced new challenges in which one of the challenges is the uncertainty that has become a structural element in this new environment. Market players have to deal with it to guarantee the appropriate power system planning and operation as well as its own economical liquidity. Under an open access environment in a deregulated power system, transmission management holds a vital role in supporting transactions between suppliers and customers. Nevertheless, a transmission network has some constraints that should be addressed in order to ensure sufficient control to maintain the security level of a power system while maximizing market efficiency. The most obvious drawback of transmission constraints is a congestion problem that becomes an obstacle of perfect competition among the market participants since it can influence spot market pricing. The system becomes congested when the supplier and customer agree to produce and consume a particular amount of electric power, but this can cause the transmission network to exceed its thermal limits. Congestion can cause the market players to exercise market power that can result in price volatility beyond the marginal costs. Thus, it is important to manage congestion efficiently in the design of a power market. One mechanism that has direct correlation with transmission management is market clearing price (MCP). Under an open access environment, energy prices throughout the network will be different and measured based on transmission constraint and network losses. When network losses are ignored and there is no congestion on the transmission lines, the power price will be the same at all nodes. This is known as uniform marginal pricing (UMP). However, as the power flow violates transmission constraints, redispatching generating units is required and this will cause the price at every node to vary. This phenomenon is defined as locational marginal pricing (LMP). Therefore, the market clearing price has a strong relationship with transmission management, which is needed to be assessed in order to obtain an efficient and transparent price but satisfying all market participants. This project investigates an alternative solution to the dispatch mechanism, and then formulates a new Locational Marginal Price scheme using optimization technique that may well control congestion as the main issue. The model will vary and be improved, to be distilled into energy price, congestion revenue, cost of losses, as well as transmission usage tariff. The objective of the project is to support developing standard market design (SMD) in managing transmission systems which promotes economic efficiency, lowers delivered energy costs, maintains power system reliability and mitigates exercising market power.

The growth of electricity markets around the world has introduced new challenges in which one of the challenges is the uncertainty that has become a structural element in this new environment. Market players have to deal with it to guarantee the appropriate power system planning and operation as well as its own economical liquidity. Under an open access environment in a deregulated power system, transmission management holds a vital role in supporting transactions between suppliers and customers. Nevertheless, a transmission network has some constraints that should be addressed in order to ensure sufficient control to maintain the security level of a power system while maximizing market efficiency. The most obvious drawback of transmission constraints is a congestion problem that becomes an obstacle of perfect competition among the market participants since it can influence spot market pricing. The system becomes congested when the supplier and customer agree to produce and consume a particular amount of electric power, but this can cause the transmission network to exceed its thermal limits. Congestion can cause the market players to exercise market power that can result in price volatility beyond the marginal costs. Thus, it is important to manage congestion efficiently in the design of a power market. One mechanism that has direct correlation with transmission management is market clearing price (MCP). Under an open access environment, energy prices throughout the network will be different and measured based on transmission constraint and network losses. When network losses are ignored and there is no congestion on the transmission lines, the power price will be the same at all nodes. This is known as uniform marginal pricing (UMP). However, as the power flow violates transmission constraints, redispatching generating units is required and this will cause the price at every node to vary. This phenomenon is defined as locational marginal pricing (LMP). Therefore, the market clearing price has a strong relationship with transmission management, which is needed to be assessed in order to obtain an efficient and transparent price but satisfying all market participants. This project investigates an alternative solution to the dispatch mechanism, and then formulates a new Locational Marginal Price scheme using optimization technique that may well control congestion as the main issue. The model will vary and be improved, to be distilled into energy price, congestion revenue, cost of losses, as well as transmission usage tariff. The objective of the project is to support developing standard market design (SMD) in managing transmission systems which promotes economic efficiency, lowers delivered energy costs, maintains power system reliability and mitigates exercising market power.

勞動市場彈性化導致企業開始採非典型僱用，公部門亦跟進彈性化趨勢，藉此舒解人事預算有限之壓力，我國公立就業服務機構許多核心業務亦為如此，而本研究重點於個案管理員勞動處境之探究。 個案管理員的服務對象為複雜性較高的弱勢族群，藉由案主所需，擬定長期性之服務計畫，協助其順利進入勞動市場。而個案管理從開辦此業務以來已有十多年之久，顯然並非公立就業服務機構的暫時性業務，但卻以非典型僱用方式，以政府的暫僱人力(自聘人力)與勞動派遣方式解套核心業務的人力需求。個案管理工作本為服務就業弱勢者，卻將提供服務者(個案管理員)同樣推入弱勢勞動處境，尤其身為勞動派遣身分，在工作場所之中面對政府的自聘人力或是正式公務員，更凸顯其勞動弱勢之狀態。 透過本研究的個案管理工作探討與勞動處境之檢視，本文提出以下之建議： 一、個案管理模式：(一)需改善程序模式的缺點(二)簡化個案管理員之工作(三)追求績效的同時，亦重視服務品質(四)擴充可利用之資源(五)個案管理仍有成為獨立業務之必要 二、個案管理員之勞動處境而言：(一)政府全面直接僱用個案管理員(二)杜絕勞動派遣人力(三)自僱人力全面簽訂不定期契約，人事預算編列上由單位內部所聘僱 (四)擁有合理的薪資調幅以及升遷制度，至少縮小與公務人員之間的差距。如此個案管理工作能夠被視為長久且有具發展性之工作，自然願意長時間駐守此一工作崗位並且全力以赴地協助弱勢者，對於我國公立就業服務機構而言定能有積極正面之助益。 / Labor market flexibility leads the private companies to adopt atypical employment. However, the government institutions also follow this rule to solve the problem of limited personnel budget so that public employment agencies start to adopt atypical employment. Case management was adopted by public employment agencies in 2002 to enhance the performance of public employment service. However, case managers are hired either on fixed-term basis or as dispatched workers. As a result, their working conditions, labor rights and service quality become a great concern. This study would like to discuss the concerned issue and attempt to offer policy recommendations. Case managers help the disadvantaged groups to enter the labor market and they usually need to face the highly complex problem. They should understand the needs of vulnerable clients and make long-term plans to assist them to successfully enter the labor market. The work of case managers has been existed at least for ten years, suggesting that it is not a temporary work. But public employment agencies do not treat them as regular employees to meet their manpower needs. Case managers are supposed to serve those disadvantaged groups, but now their plight is the same as that of their vulnerable clients, which makes their service in jeopardy. Based on the investigation of the working conditions of case managers, policy recommendations are as follows: 1.For the model of case management: (1) Improving assessment model (2) Simplifying the work of the case manager (3) Pursuing quantitative goals while not neglecting qualitative ends as its performance indicators (4) Expanding available resources (5) The job of case management is necessary and needs to be treated as an independent task. 2.For the working condition of case manager: (1) Case managers are to be employed on a permanent basis (2) Eliminating the dispatched employment (3) working conditions should be reasonable. Thus, case management should be considered as a long-term work that has a career prospect in order to provide better service for the disadvantaged groups and help enhance the performance of public employment agencies.