Optimal reactive power dispatch based on the improved seeker optimisation algorithm and statistical analysis

Abstract

Optimal reactive power dispatch (ORPD) is one of the important non-linear mixed-variable optimisation problems in power system which includes both continuous and discrete control variables satisfying both equality and inequality constraints. This paper presents a new evolutionary optimisation algorithm to solve the optimal reactive power dispatch problem with operational constraints using the improved seeker optimisation algorithm (ISOA). In this paper, we improvise the step length determination strategy in the conventional seeker optimisation method by considering an optimistically contracting step length calculation. The feasibility of the proposed approach was tested on IEEE 30-bus system with three different single objectives like minimise the total real power loss, improve the load bus voltage profile and improve the voltage stability index. Simulation result obtained reveals the robustness and ability of the proposed methodology over other existing techniques recently reported in the literature. An innovative statistical analysis based on central tendency measures and dispersion measures were carried out on the three different single objectives.