In the day-ahead market clearing model with participation of multi-operator cascade hydropower stations

the downstream power station as price-taker cannot decide the clearing price

and its output is mainly determined by the accepted bidding quantity of upstream station. But the downstream power station can utilize the limited power generating margin to formulate the self-scheduling bidding strategy to expand benefit space. In view of the problems that the accepted bidding quantity curve of downstream power station lags behind that of the upstream power station

and it is easy to miss load or price peak

the output adjusting strategy of “pre-peak reservoir release and post-peak impound” is proposed to increase the revenue. For the problem of large-scale fluctuation in downstream power station inflow brought by weather changes

and the difficulty in consumption

the two-stage output optimization and regulation strategy of “storage and peak shaving” is put forward to smoothly discharge water flow and alleviate water abandoning. The downstream power station will report the regulating output curve to market operator for self-scheduling bidding and achieving additional income. Finally

a system including upstream and downstream cascade hydropower stations

is taken as example for market transaction simulation. The results show that the proposed strategy can effectively improve the income of downstream power station and reduce water release.