A method based on the ant colony optimization algorithm for dynamic economic dispatch with valve-point effects

This article proposes the use of a heuristic method based on the ant colony optimization algorithm (MACO) to solve the dynamic economic dispatch (DED) problem with taking into consideration the valve-point effects. The suggested method takes into account both static and dynamic constraints of generator operation, the transmission losses and non-smooth cost functions that shape the valve-point effects. Also, a strategy for the DED imposed equality constraint handling is suggested. The proposed method's feasibility is proven for three different systems that have 10, 13 and 30 thermal generating units. The simulation results show that the suggested approach is very efficient having a capacity to obtain quality solutions in solving the DED problem with valve-points effects. The numerical results obtained through the suggested method are superior to other results recently reported in literature, for the same systems. Copyright (c) 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.