Optimal operation of the Cantareira System for a critical inflow period

ABSTRACT The Cantareira System (CS), one of Brazil’s biggest water producing systems, went through a period of severe drought from 2013 to 2014, compromising not only the 9 million people in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo (MRSP), but also the downstream basins. This paper aims to propose Dynamic Programming (DP) models for optimal operation of the CS, considering the critical period from 2011 to 2015. In this context, an unconstrained operation optimization model and a rule-based operation optimization model were formulated. Both optimized models presented superior performance when compared to the real operation regarding final storage volumes and guaranteeing the attendance of water demand. The unconstrained operation optimization model provided average supply of 29,40 m3.s-1 for MRSP, and of 9,30 m3.s-1 and 18,70 m3.s-1 for the downstream basins represented by control points, Jb and Jv respectively. The rule-based operation model provided average supply of 28,50 m3.s-1 to MRSP, of 9,40 m3.s-1 to Jb, and of 19,30 m3.s-1 to Jv.