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This paper presents an optimum solution of the economic dispatch (ED) problem without considering transmission losses using linear programming (LP). In the ED problem, several on-line units (generators) are available, and it is needed to determine the power to produce by each unit in order to meet the required load at minimum total cost. To apply LP, the nonlinear cost functions of all generators are approximated by linear piecewise functions. To examine the effectiveness of this linearization method, a comprehensive set of benchmark test problems is used consisting of 3, 6, 18, 20, 38, and 40 generators. Using this set, LP solutions of linearized ED problems are compared with several other techniques available in the literature. The LP technique with piecewise linearization shows an overall competitive advantage in terms of total cost, solution time, and load satisfaction accuracy. The impact of varying the width of the linearized pieces (segments) is also discussed. All the computational analysis is performed using MATLAB software environment.

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