Genetic algorithm for optimal planning of transmission system reactive power compensation under security constraints

The optimal reactive power compensation problem includes the determination of the number, the type (size) and the location of the reactive power compensation devices to be installed in the transmission system. The optimal solution of this problem should minimize the sum of the investment cost and the cost of energy losses in the transmission lines. It also should avoid the risk of a voltage collapse and provide admissible voltage profiles and power flows under both normal conditions and emergency states (contingencies in generating units, autotransformers and transmission lines). In this paper, the problem is considered as combinatorial optimization one and a genetic algorithm (GA) is used for its solution