Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm for Discrete Optimal Reactive Power Dispatch

In this paper one of the reliable and effective optimization algorithms called “artificial bee colony” algorithm (ABC) for solving the optimal reactive power dispatch (ORPD) problem with the discrete and continuous control variables in an electric power system is presented. In this work ABC algorithm is used to find the settings of control variables such as generator voltages, tap positions of tap changing transformers and the number of capacitors banks to be switched, for optimal reactive power dispatch. The original ABC algorithm designed for the continuous nature of optimization problems, cannot be used for discrete cases; but the real ORPD problem has two different nature types of control variables (discrete and continuous), for this reasons a simple rounding operator is included in the main steps of original ABC algorithm to ensure the discretization process. Then, the feasibility and performance of the proposed algorithm are verified by the serial simulations on the IEEE 14-bus, IEEE 30-bus and IEEE 57-bus power systems. The numerical results are compared to those yielded by the other recently published evolutionary optimization algorithms in the literature. This comparison shows that the ABC algorithm is superior to the other mentioned algorithms and can be efficiently used for solving the discrete ORPD problem.