A Modified Cuckoo Search Algorithm for Improving Voltage Profile and to Diminish Power Losses by Locating Multi-type FACTS Devices

Abstract

This paper proposes a cuckoo search (CS) algorithm, a stochastic heuristic algorithm, combined with the most familiar genetic algorithm (GA) to seek optimal location(s) of FACTS devices in a multi-machine power system. The intention of hybridizing GA with CS algorithm is to improve the quality of solution through expanding the search space and speed of convergence. The run time and the required function evaluation number(generations) for acquiring optimum by the modified algorithm are generally smaller than the basic algorithm. Identification of the best location for FACTS is a vital task as they are expensive to use. Here, three emerging and dissimilar kinds of FACTS devices, namely Unified Power Flow Controller, Thyristor Controlled Series Capacitor and Interline Power Flow Controller, are chosen for optimum locations and are modeled for steady-state studies. The optimal location and size of these FACTS devices, including installation costs, are computed utilizing the real power losses of the system as the objective function to be minimized. The feasibility of the proposed method is demonstrated for IEEE 30 bus power system network using MATLAB working platform. The results show that the proposed approach, with good stability, has better convergence and the simultaneous use of several kinds of FACTS controllers is the most efficient solution to improve the voltage profile with minimum power loss of the system.