Particle swarm optimization with constriction factor for optimal reactive power dispatch

Abstract

This paper proposes a simple particle swarm optimization with constriction factor (PSO-CF) method for solving optimal reactive power dispatch (ORPD) problem. The proposed PSO-CF is the conventional particle swarm optimization based on constriction factor which can deal with different objectives of the problem such as minimizing the real power losses, improving the voltage profile, and enhancing the voltage stability and properly handle various constraints for reactive power limits of generators and switchable capacitor banks, bus voltage limits, tap changer limits for transformers, and transmission line limits. The proposed method has been tested on the IEEE 30-bus and IEEE 118-bus systems and the obtained results are compared to those from other PSO variants and other methods in the literature. The result comparison has shown that the proposed method can obtain total power loss, voltage deviation or voltage stability index less than the others for the considered cases. Therefore, the proposed PSO-CF can be favorable solving the ORPD problem.