Optimal Reduction of electrical Loads Based on Priorities Developed Using a Genetic Algorithm

Abstract

Most developing countries are now working to combat imbalances between power generation and load demand. In such situations, load shedding schemes have been implemented frequently as rapid solutions for unbalanced conditions to protect networks from collapsing and to sustain stability. The conventional methods of load shedding disconnect loads without considering their priorities. In this work, a logarithmic reduction method is thus proposed to reduce loads according to the priority and criticality. A Reduction Matrix is introduced as a tuning factor scaled to the size of the network, and the paper thus presents an optimisation tool based on Genetic Algorithms, developed in MATLAB, that can be applied to minimise the error between the amount of load to be reduced and the actual load reduced in electric power systems. The proposed algorithm was tested on a practical data system sample as provided by the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity from the control center of the Iraqi national grid in Baghdad, and was shown to offer optimal load reduction with reduce error, which is necessary to eliminate the impact of load reduction in electrical networks on critical loads when total demand cannot be supplied. The simulation results thus support the effectiveness and practicality of the applied method, paving the way for its possible application in power systems.