Application of evolutionary programming to reactive power planning - Comparison with nonlinear programming approach

This paper proposes an application of evolutionary programming (EP) to reactive power planning (RPP). Several techniques have been developed to make EP practicable to solve a real power system problem and other practical problems. The proposed approach has been used in the IEEE 30-bus system and a practical power system. For illustration purposes, only results for the IEEE 30-bus system will be given. Simulation results, compared with those obtained by using a conventional gradient-based optimization method, Broyden's method, are presented to show that the present method is better for power system planning. In the case of optimization of noncontinuous and non-smooth function, EP is much better than nonlinear programming. The comprehensive simulation results show a great potential for applications of EP in power system economical and secure operation, planning and reliability assessment.