Developments in Optimal Power Flow

This paper presents an advanced power flow methodology for optimally dispatching all active and reactive power in a power system. Two major obstacles impede the success of most optimization algorithms: (1) computational inefficiences associated with large system and (2) the problems associated with handling functional inequality, constraints. In view of these basic problems, techniques are presented to improve the solution algorithm, the handling of penalty functions, and the power solution optimization methodologies. Additionally, new algorithms are provided for the determination of an optimal step length and for scaling of control variable gradients. These improvements and innovations computing techniques have been incorporated into a computer program and demonstrated on practical size power systems.