Application of Gravitational Search Algorithm for Real Power Loss and Voltage Deviation Optimization

283  Abstract— Reactive power flow in a power system is optimized by real power loss minimization and it is essential for secured operation of power systems with regard to voltage stability and it also improves the economics of power system operation. Generator bus voltage magnitude, transformer tap settings and SVC controllers are the control variables for reactive power flow optimization. In this paper, the nature inspired gravitational search algorithm (GSA) is introduced to solve a multi constrained optimal reactive power flow problem in power systems. The algorithm is a recent development in the area of nature inspired algorithms for global optimization. The performance of the GSA based algorithm is tested on standard IEEE 30 bus test system and the results are compared with other methods to prove the effectiveness of the new algorithm. The results are quite encouraging and the algorithm is found to be suitable for power system operation optimization.