Joint Optimized Clearing Model for Multiple Provincial Power Grids Under Carbon Quota Mechanism

China is advancing electricity balance allocation across multiple provincial power grids within its six regional power grids, gradually establishing a two-level electricity market encompassing inter-provincial and intra-provincial trading. To optimize energy distribution between and within provincial power grids, and to increase the proportion of new energy integration and the power generation of low-cost thermal power units within the region, this paper proposes a joint clearing model for multiple provincial power grids based on the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM). The model adopts a distributed solution approach where each provincial power grid performs optimized clearing within its jurisdiction while synchronously updating the power of inter-provincial tielines. It ensures the energy balance of the regional power grid while minimizing the overall electricity cost of the regional power grid. Furthermore, a carbon quota mechanism is incorporated, transforming the provincial power grids clearing problem into a multi-objective optimization problem that accounts for carbon emission costs. Finally, a case study involving four provinces in a Chinese regional power grid is conducted, compared with the independent operation of provincial power grids, the joint clearing strategy proposed in this paper increases the overall economic benefits by 45.48% and reduces regional carbon emissions by 3.39%.