Adaptive Differential Evolution Approach for Constrained Economic Power Dispatch with Prohibited Operating Zones

Economic power dispatch (EPD) is one of the main tools for optimal operation and planning of modern power systems. To solve effectively the EPD problem, most of the conventional calculus methods rely on the assumption that the fuel cost characteristic of a generating unit is a continuous and convex function, resulting in inaccurate dispatch. This paper presents the design and application of efficient adaptive differential evolution (ADE) algorithm for the solution of the economic power dispatch problem, where the non-convex characteristics of the generators, such us prohibited operating zones and ramp rate limits of the practical generator operation are considered. The 26 bus benchmark test system with 6 units having prohibited operating zones and ramp rate limits was used for testing and validation purposes. The results obtained demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method for solving the non-convex economic dispatch problem.