Summary
Unified power flow controller (UPFC) is utilized to regulate the bus voltage as well as the power flow through a power system. A solution of optimal power flow (OPF) problems with UPFC is a crucial and complex task due to the required modifications for considering the parameters of UPFC. This work proposes a simplified UPFC modeling into an OPF code in order to avoid the programming complexity. Moreover, the solution of an OPF problem with a UPFC model is obtained by a recent physical‐based optimization technique called lightning attachment procedure optimization (LAPO). Different objective functions including minimizing fuel cost and fuel cost with valve point effect (VPE), reduction of emission, improvement of voltage profile, and improving the voltage stability index are considered. The proposed algorithm is tested using the standard IEEE 30‐bus system. The results obtained by the proposed algorithm are compared with those obtained by other optimization techniques. However, the obtained results verify the applicability of the simplified UPFC model in OPF.