Scheduling of variable-head hydro-thermal generation using an enhanced bacterial foraging algorithm

In this paper, optimum scheduling of hydro-thermal power systems with variable-head hydro plants is considered. The problem is solved using an enhanced bacterial foraging algorithm (EBFA). The short-term hydro-thermal scheduling (STHTS) problem treated is a dynamic large scale optimization problem. The bacterial foraging algorithm (BFA) is one of the modern evolutionary techniques inspired by the foraging behavior of the E. coli bacteria. Some enhancements are applied to the basic BFA to solve this complex problem. The EBFA is validated using two test systems. Results show that the algorithm is successfully applied to solve this problem with good performance and convergence characteristics.