A comparative study on performance of metaheuristics optimization methods for optimal var sizing and allocation

The key of reactive power planning (RPP), or Var planning, is the optimal allocation of reactive power sources considering location and size. In this paper, three metaheuristics optimization algorithms and their modified version are compared for the optimal var sizing and allocation. They include RCGA, DE, HDEPSO, PSO and IPSO. Each of these algorithms are introduced and are applied on RPP problem for the IEEE 14-bus and IEEE 30-bus test systems. Results are compared in the context of solution quality and computational speed.