Optimal Power Flow Solution through Genetic Algorithms

Abstract

Genetic algorithms have been successfully applied to a variety of engineering problems. This paper proposes using a genetic algorithm to solve the problem of optimal power flow, only taking the active power of the power system into account. Unlike traditional mathematical programming techniques, GA can use objective functions without any knowledge of the problem to be solved. This makes the algorithm easy to implement and also allows the inclusion of nonlinear constraints without the need of a linear equivalent, which brings the obtained solution much closer to the reality of the problem to be solved. This method will be tested with the IEEE 30 test system and 118 buses