Non-convex economic dispatch with prohibited operating zones through gravitational search algorithm

Abstract

This paper presents a new approach to the solution of optimal power generation for economic load dispatch (ELD) using gravitational search algorithm (GSA) when all the generators include valve point effects and some/all of the generators have prohibited operating zones. In this paper a gravitational search algorithm is suggested that deals with equality and inequality constraints in ELD problems. A constraint treatment mechanism is also discussed to accelerate the optimization process. To verify the robustness and superiority of the proposed GSA based approach, a practical sized 40-generators case with valve point effects and prohibited operating zones is considered. The simulation results reveal that the proposed GSA approach ensures convergence within an acceptable execution time and provides highly optimal solution as compared to the results obtained from well established heuristic optimization approaches.