New approach for economic load scheduling

Economic load scheduling, carried out by loss-formula coefficients, has been shown in the literature to be inaccurate. A new approach is presented here which employs a simple principle of moments (as employed in the calculation of a.c. distributors) and based on the removal of loops from the power-system network. The method provides comprehensive economic dispatch information regarding the active power output of a plant and its voltages and power factors at regular intervals. This approach is particularly suitable for monitoring and controlling power systems by digital computers operating online to achieve optimum economy. Included illustrative examples show the inaccuracy of the B coefficient approach (even for a base case), and indicate the improved accuracy achieved by the new method even for negative loads; the savings in operating costs relative to that computed by the B coefficient method being from 1% to 3%, in relatively small power systems, with the expectation of greater savings in larger systems.