Operational research models and methods in the energy sector

In September 1957, The Economist reported about the first International Conference on Operational Research, which had been held in Oxford (UK), emphasizing that the majority of (British) papers presented therein were practical case studies. The Economist used as showcase the problem faced by the Central Electricity Authority of calculating how – from which pits to which power stations, in what kinds of transport and over which routes – it could supply the stations (. . .) with the coal they needed at the minimum cost. A linear programming model achieved economies of £0.3 million a year, and The Economist concluded that the Central Electricity Authority management had been encouraged enough with the results to widen the exercise towards national scope. Also, the oil industry has been a heavy user of OR techniques to support refinery operations management and electricity companies rely on OR to schedule generator operations and trade power. The application of the models and methods of OR has revealed a very effective contribution to the successful resolution and sound decision support in several problems arising in the energy sector since the early days of OR. The changes underway in the organization of the energy sector, namely in the electric sector with the unbundling of previously vertically integrated activities, the trend towards the liberalization of the energy markets, the environmental problems associated with activities from extraction to end-use of energy, the socio-economic concerns in the framework of sustainable development, bring up new challenges as well as new opportunities for OR. The energy sector is characterized by a diversity of problems of distinct nature (technical and operational, policy design, shortand long-term planning, systems management, market modelling, etc.), and different players involved (utilities, energy service companies in different activity branches, customers, system and market operators, regulatory bodies, governments, etc.). The OR toolbox offers researchers and practitioners a large and rich set of models and methods to deal with these challenges and problems in a creative and effective manner. This special issue comprises ten papers presenting the application of models and methods of OR in the energy sector. Techniques used in these contributions include (mixed integer) linear programming, fuzzy models, game theory, stochastic programming, data envelopment analysis and multi-criteria analysis. Areas of application involve the petroleum, gas and electricity industries as well as local and national planning. A vast array of problems is addressed, from technical and operational issues to policy design, planning and management of energy systems. We hope this special issue can be useful for a large audience, both researchers