HBMOA computational efficiency assessed for a hydropower optimization problem

A simple hydropower optimization problem is used to compare the computational efficiency of the Honey Bees Mating Optimization Algorithm (HBMOA), with the efficiency of other evolutionary algorithms, namely 3 recent ones: firefly algorithm, cuckoo search algorithm and bat-inspired algorithm (BA). The selected case study is a hydropower development on the Arges river, in Romania, consisting of Vidraru Reservoir (upstream) and Vidraru Hydro-Power Plant (downstream). Under specific conditions, Newton-Raphson method gives an accurate solution of the above optimization problem - that solution can be used as reference solution when assessing the computational efficiency of the above algorithms. From the overall performance viewpoint, BA is the most efficient algorithm, while from the hydropower viewpoint, HBMOA gives the preferred result: its annual energy production is the closest to the imposed reference value.