Genetic algorithm based reactive power dispatch for voltage stability improvement

Voltage stability assessment and control form the core function in a modern energy control centre. This paper presents an improved Genetic algorithm (GA) approach for voltage stability enhancement. The proposed technique is based on the minimization of the maximum of L-indices of load buses. Generator voltages, switchable VAR sources and transformer tap changers are used as optimization variables of this problem. The proposed approach permits the optimization variables to be represented in their natural form in the genetic population. For effective genetic processing, the crossover and mutation operators which can directly deal with the floating point numbers and integers are used. The proposed algorithm has been tested on IEEE 30-bus and IEEE 57-bus test systems and successful results have been obtained. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.