Optimal Power Flow Using Cuckoo Search Considering Voltage Stability

Optimal power flow is the most complicated economical problem in power system operation. This is due to the nonlinearity of load flow equations and constraints on voltage, thermal limits and angle and voltage stability. The objective of this problem is to distribute system loads among generators with minimum cost while achieving all equality and inequality constraints. Nowadays, meta heuristic methods are used to solve this problem such as genetic algorithm, particle swarm and tabu search. In this paper Cuckoo search is investigated with additional constraints on voltage stability and output of reactive power compensators. Considering the initial load angles of generators will enhance the transient stability of power system. Results obtained by Cuckoo search are compared to that obtained by genetic algorithm, Tabu search and gradient descent methods. With the same loading conditions and constraints, Cuckoo search based optimal power flow gives less cost compared to these methods. The algorithm is investigated on IEEE 30 bus system. Key-Words: OPF, Cuckoo search, voltage stability, reactive power compensators.