Secure and optimal operation of a power generation and transmission system-application to the Moroccan system

This article presents a new method for solving the "optimal power flow" problem in electric power systems. The method is fast and accurate. It has been implemented through two separate optimization models: MODINOP-the initial optimization model-which finds quickly a near optimal solution; and MODFINOP-the final optimization model-which leads to the optimal solution from the initial solution. The initial optimization model uses the principal component of the branch power flows as control variables. The network losses are computed at each optimization step and attached to the branch extremity buses as additional loads. The final optimization model improves the accuracy. It uses the state variable changes as control variables and incorporates the losses in the objective function. The resulting optimization models are solved using linear programming which is easy to implement and provides a fast solution. The utilization of these models with actual data of the Moroccan transmission network operation yield quickly, in a few seconds on a VAX 11/780, accurate results consistent with the real time data and compatible with the results provided by other models.