Optimal load shedding in power systems

Load shedding is the last-resort tool for use in an extreme situation arising due to generating power deficiency and the consequent drop in power system frequency, which lead to a system collapse. Load shedding becomes a common practice for electric utilities around the world. To be effective, load shedding should be simple, rapid, and decisive. This paper deals with the problem of using optimal load shedding, fast, spinning reserve, distributed generators (DG), and optimal power generation re-dispatch in order to withstand major sudden generation losses without collapsing by cascading effects. The optimal proposed procedure (OPP) solves that problem in three stages to ensure the reliable and secure operation of power system. Different objectives functions are introduced in each stage. These objectives are conflicted and cannot be optimized simultaneously due to inherent conflict between them. The multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA) optimization technique will be used to compromise between the conflicted objective functions. Numerical simulations are carried out on three test systems in order to examine the validity of the OPP.