Application of particle swarm optimization to optimal power systems

Abstract

This paper presents the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm for solving the optimal distribution system reconfiguration problem for power loss minimization. The proposed methodology determines control variable settings, such as the number of shunts to be switched, for real power loss minimization in the transmission system. The problem is formulated as a nonlinear optimization problem. The PSO is a relatively new and powerful intelligent evolution algorithm for solving optimization problems. It is a population-based approach. The proposed approach employs the PSO algorithm for the optimal setting of optimal power flow (OPF) based on loss minimization (LM) function. The proposed approach has been examined and tested on standard IEEE 14, IEEE 30 and IEEE 118 bus test systems. The obtained results are compared with those using other techniques in a previous work to evaluate the performance.