Dynamic switched crowding-based multi-objective particle swarm optimization algorithm for solving multi-objective AC-DC optimal power flow problem

In this paper, the multi-objective AC-DC optimal power flow (MO/AC-DC OPF) problem in the presence of renewable energy sources (RESs), flexible AC transmission system (FACTS) devices and multi-terminal direct current (MTDC) systems is introduced for the first time. Conflicting objective functions and the high complexity of the objective and constraint spaces are the main challenges in finding optimal solutions for MO/AC-DC OPF. To overcome these challenges, twelve different versions of the dynamic switched crowding-based multi-objective particle swarm optimization (DSC-MOPSO) algorithm are introduced in this paper. Studies on multimodal optimization problems have shown that all DSC-MOPSO versions have better performance metrics than the MOPSO algorithm. Using the developed DSC-MOPSO and its strong competitors, the Pareto-optimal solution sets of the MO/AC-DC OPF problem are investigated. In these investigations, the performances of the algorithms are tested for the minimization of dual and triple objectives such as fuel cost, voltage level deviation, emission and power loss in a modified IEEE 30-bus power grid. According to the simulation results, the proposed DSC-MOPSO achieved an improvement in fuel cost between 0.02 % and 5.05 % and a reduction in active power loss between 0.44 % and 30.74% compared to its competitors. The Hypervolume (HV) performance metric was used to evaluate the Pareto-front coverage performance of DSC-MOPSO and other optimizers. The results from nine case studies of the MO/AC-DC OPF were statistically analyzed by the Friedman test according to the 1/HV metric. According to the Friedman test results, the rankings of DSC-MOPSO and MOMA are 1.984 and 3.079, respectively, ranking first and second among all competitors. Finally, in this study, feasible solutions for MO/AC-DC OPF problem are identified for the first time and the stability of competitive algorithms in finding these solutions is analyzed for the first time. The success rates and search times of DSC-MOPSO and MOMA algorithms in finding feasible solutions for MO/AC-DC OPF are 91.01 % (30.641 s) and 82.01 % (46.038 s), respectively.