Optimal generation expansion planning via the Cross-Entropy method

The Generation Expansion Planning (GEP) problem is a highly constrained, large-scale, mixed integer nonlinear programming problem. The objective of the GEP problem is to evaluate the least cost investment plan for addition of power generating units over a planning period subject to demand, availability, and security constraints. In this paper, a GEP model is presented and the Cross-Entropy (CE) optimization method is developed to solve the problem. The CE method is an effective algorithm for solving large combinatorial optimization problems. The main advantage of the CE method over other metaheuristic techniques is that it does not require decomposition of the problem into a master problem and operation subproblems, greatly reducing the computational complexity. This method also provides a fast and reliable convergence to the optimal solution.