Optimal reactive power flow using multi-objective mathematical programming

This paper presents a multi-objective optimization methodology to solve the Optimal Reactive Power Flow (ORPF) problem. The "-constraint approach is implemented for the Multi-objective Mathematical Programming (MMP) formulation. The solution procedure uses Mixed Integer Non-Linear Programming (MINLP) model due to discrete variables, such as the tap settings of transformers and the reactive power output of capacitor banks. The optimum tap settings of transformers are directly determined in terms of the admittance matrix of the network since the admittance matrix is constructed in the optimization framework as additional equality constraints. The optimization problem is modeled in General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS) software and solved using DICOPT solver. Simulation results are implemented on the IEEE 14-, 30-, and 118-bus test systems to simultaneously optimize the total fuel cost, power losses and the system loadability as objective functions. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm is suitable and effective for the reactive power planning