A collaborative bidding strategy for multi-type combined heat and power units under the daily bidding curve rule

This study examines a thermal power plant with a cluster of multi-type combined heat and power units, focusing on solving the collaborative bidding decision problem in the day-ahead spot market. The plant is subject to the rule of the day-ahead spot market that each unit may submit a single daily bidding curve for clearing across all time periods of the next day. To address this, a decision framework is established, comprising three stages: “day-ahead self-scheduling, bidding curve generation, and heat supply verification and curve adjustment.” This framework effectively addresses the challenge of using a single, limited-segment daily bidding curve to accommodate varying electricity prices and heat loads across all periods of the next day. Based on simulation results from a real plant in Northeast China, the proposed approach demonstrates good applicability and effectiveness under various heat load and electricity price scenarios, thereby providing a practical decision-support tool for similar plants participating in electricity spot markets.