Optimal expansion of an existing electrical power transmission network by multi-objective genetic algorithms

In this paper, the optimal expansion of a power transmission network by addition of new connection links is addressed. Optimality is searched with respect to two objectives: the transmission reliability efficiency and the cost of the added transmission links. The multi-objective optimization problem is tackled by means of three different genetic algorithm paradigms, opportunely biased to give preference to solutions with a low number of added links, for practical applicability. The three approaches are applied to a reference power transmission network of the literature, the IEEE RTS 96; the results obtained are compared with respect to the efficacy of driving the search towards the preferred region of the solution space. Finally, an interpretation of the results is offered in terms of a properly defined reliability-based centrality measure.