Assessment of Metaheuristic Techniques Applied to the Optimal Reactive Power Dispatch

Abstract

The optimal reactive power dispatch (ORPD) problem consists of finding the optimal settings of several reactive power resources in order to minimize system power losses. The ORPD is a complex combinatorial optimization problem that involves discrete and continuous variables as well as a nonlinear objective function and nonlinear constraints. From the point of view of computational complexity, the ORPD problem is NP-complete. Several techniques have been reported in the specialized literature to approach this problem in which modern metaheuristics stand out. This paper presents a comparison of such techniques with a Mean-Variance Mapping Optimization (MVMO) algorithm implemented by the authors with two different constraint handling approaches. Several tests with the IEEE 30 bus test system show the effectiveness of the proposed approach which outperforms results of previously reported methods.