Models and computational strategies for multistage stochastic programming under endogenous and exogenous uncertainties

In this work, we address the modeling and solution of mixed-integer linear multistage stochastic programming problems involving both endogenous and exogenous uncertain parameters. We first propose a composite scenario tree that captures both types of uncertainty, and we exploit its unique structure to derive new theoretical properties that can drastically reduce the number of non-anticipativity constraints (NACs). Since the reduced model is often still intractable, we discuss two special solution approaches. The first is a sequential scenario decomposition heuristic in which we sequentially solve endogenous MILP subproblems to determine the binary investment decisions, fix these decisions to satisfy the first-period and exogenous NACs, and then solve the resulting model to obtain a feasible solution. The second is Lagrangean decomposition. We present numerical results for a process network and an oilfield development planning problem. The results clearly demonstrate the efficiency of the special solution methods over solving the reduced model directly. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.