Particle Swarm Optimization Applied to Optimal Power Flow Solution

This paper presents solution of optimal power flow (OPF) problem of a power system via a simple particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. This method is dynamic in nature and it overcomes the shortcomings of other evolutionary computation techniques such as premature convergence and provides high quality solutions. The objective is to minimize the fuel cost and keep the power outputs of generators, bus voltages, shunt capacitors/reactors and transformers tap-setting in their secure limits. The effectiveness of PSO was compared to that of OPF by MATPOWER. The potential and superiority of PSO have been demonstrated through the results of IEEE 30-bus system.