Hydropower is a vital strategic component of China’s clean energy development. Its construction and optimized water resource allocation are crucial for addressing global energy challenges, promoting socio-economic development, and achieving sustainable development. However, the optimization scheduling of cascade hydropower stations is a large-scale, multi-constrained, and nonlinear problem. Traditional optimization methods suffer from low computational efficiency, while conventional intelligent algorithms still face issues like premature convergence and local optima, which severely hinder the full utilization of water resources. This study proposed an improved whale optimization algorithm, the Black-winged Differential-variant Whale Optimization Algorithm (BDWOA), which enhanced population diversity through a Logistic-Sine-Cosine combination chaotic map, improved algorithm flexibility with an adaptive adjustment strategy, and introduced the migration mechanism of the black-winged kite algorithm along with a differential mutation strategy to enhance the global search ability and convergence capacity. The BDWOA algorithm was tested using test functions with randomly generated simulated data, with its performance compared against five related optimization algorithms. Results indicate that the BDWOA achieved the optimal value with the fewest iterations, effectively overcoming the limitations of the original whale optimization algorithm. Further validation using actual runoff data for the cascade hydropower station optimization scheduling model showed that the BDWOA effectively enhanced power generation efficiency. In high-flow years, the average power generation increased by 8.3%, 6.5%, 6.8%, 4.1%, and 8.2% compared to the five algorithms while achieving the shortest computation time. Significant improvements in power generation were also observed in normal-flow and low-flow years. The scheduling solutions generated by the BDWOA can adapt to varying inflow conditions, offering an innovative approach to solving complex hydropower station optimization scheduling problems. This contributes to the sustainable utilization of water resources and supports the long-term development of renewable energy.

Exploring efficient and stable solution methods for hydropower generation optimization models is crucial for enhancing reservoir power generation efficiency and achieving the sustainable use of water resources. However, existing studies predominantly focus on single-timescale scheduling models, failing to fully exploit multi-timescale runoff information. Additionally, commonly used solution algorithms often face challenges such as premature convergence, susceptibility to local optima, and dimensionality issues. To address these limitations, this paper proposes the Migrating Particle Whale Optimization Algorithm (MPWOA), which initializes the population using chaotic mapping, incorporates a particle swarm mechanism to enhance exploitation during the spiral predation phase, and integrates the black-winged kite migration mechanism to improve stochastic search performance. Validation on classical test functions and the Jiangpinghe River of the multi-timescale nested optimal scheduling model demonstrates that MPWOA exhibits faster convergence and stronger optimization capabilities and significantly improves power generation. The multi-timescale nested scheduling scheme derived from this algorithm effectively utilizes runoff information, offering a practical and highly efficient solution for hydropower scheduling.