Abstract:
Active power loss optimization is one of the important goals in electrical power systems and it is provided by optimal reactive power flow (ORPF). In this study, a new approach for the solution of the ORPF in multiterminal AC-DC systems is proposed. This approach provides 3 main contributions. First, the convergence problem in the AC-DC power flow is solved. Second, the problem of getting stuck in local minima during the optimization process is overcome. Third, a better global optimum point is obtained for the ORPF. Active power loss optimization is implemented through the artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm, which is a heuristic optimization method, by considering the system constraints. This study is the first to use the ABC algorithm for the solution of the ORPF in multiterminal AC-DC systems. The proposed approach is tested on the modified IEEE 14-bus AC-DC test system and the obtained results from this and other studies are given. Comparative results prove that this approach is more efficient and reliable in reaching a global optimum while satisfying all of the system constraints.
