Optimal Power Flow Computations With a Limited Number of Controls Allowed to Move

This letter focuses on optimal power flow (OPF) computations in which no more than a pre-specified number of controls are allowed to move. To determine an efficient subset of controls satisfying this constraint, we rely on the solution of a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) problem fed with sensitivity information of controls' impact on the objective and constraints. We illustrate this approach on a 60-bus system and for the OPF problem of minimum load curtailment cost to remove thermal congestion.