Static transmission expansion planning under an improved harmony search algorithm

This paper proposes an improved harmony search (HS) algorithm for the solution of the static transmission expansion planning (TEP) problem with security constraints. The modification of this method in comparison to the original harmony search algorithm includes the introduction of a variable bandwidth in the memory consideration and the pitch adjustment phase for the selection of the new harmony vector (NHV) in the improvisation step of the algorithm. In that way, if previous harmonies are considered for the NHV, the algorithm allows only the best harmonies of the harmony memory in respect of objective function value to participate in the improvisation of the NHV. The results from the application of the proposed method on IEEE 24-bus reliability test system demonstrate the potentials and the practicality of the proposed HS algorithm.