Optimal location and parameters of GUPFC for transmission loss minimization using PSO algorithm

Transmission losses are one of the major losses faced by our power system. Reduction of transmission losses will benefit us by saving a large amount of power. The transmission losses can be reduced by placing FACTS devices in the power system. Among all the FACTS devices Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC) and Generalized Unified Power Flow Controller (GUPFC) are the best. Incorporating the GUPFC in to the power system and placing it to the optimal location and setting its output to optimal values can reduce the transmission losses. This paper explains the way to locate the optimal location of GUPFC and finding the optimal setting using PSO algorithm to reduce the total transmission losses. Voltage variation is taken as the criteria for finding the location and PSO is used for finding the settings of GUPFC. This study is conducted on an IEEE 14-bus system using MATLAB software.