A Modified Particle Swarm Optimization to Solve the Economic Dispatch Problem of Thermal Generators of a Power System

Abstract: The economic dispatch has the objective of generation allocation to the power generators in such a way that the total fuel cost is minimized while all operating constraints are satisfied. The schematic methods assume the cost curves of generators are linear but in case of modern generators this assumption makes inaccuracy in economic dispatch because of valve point loading effect, prohibited operating zone and ramp rate limits. By involving these three constraints the classical PSO faces premature convergence. To handle the problem of premature convergence this paper presents an efficient approach for solving nonconvex economic dispatch (NCED) problem using a modified particle swarm optimization (MPSO)combined with roulette wheel selection method. The proposed method applied to six unit system having nonconvex solution spaces, and better results are obtained when compare with previous approach. .