Reactive power management by using a modified differential evolution algorithm

In this article, a modified differential evolution (MDE) algorithm is proposed and applied to provide the solution for reactive power management by incorporating the flexible alternating current transmission systems (FACTS) controllers. The proper siting of FACTS controller has been achieved with an objective to minimize the losses and to improve the loading capability. The power flow analysis is performed to determine the optimal position for FACTS controllers. These controllers are incorporated in the most heavily loaded lines and hence controls the power flow in that particular line and allow more power to be transmitted in the remaining lines. The proposed MDE algorithm uses a novel DE/best3/1/bin mutation operator to produce three temporary mutant vectors which are averaged to obtain the mutant vector. Hence, the decision vectors of a generation simultaneously move toward the three best decision vectors of the population thereby maintains a better trade between exploration and exploitation. The proposed MDE algorithm is applied on different standard test bus (i.e., IEEE30, IEEE57, and IEEE118) systems with varying active and reactive loading (i.e., 100%, 110%, and 120%). The proposed method's performance is compared to those obtained from some well-known meta-heuristic algorithms. The proposed MDE algorithm optimized FACTS controllers reduce transmission loss by 60.90% in IEEE30 bus, 49.72% in IEEE57 bus and 8.37% in IEEE118 bus test system under base loading. The statistical analysis of the obtained results is carried out using the Wilcoxon signed rank test and the Friedman and Nemenyi hypothesis test, which ensures the reliability and robustness of the proposed method.