Many areas in power systems require solving one or more nonlinear optimization problems. While analytical methods might suffer from slow convergence and the curse of dimensionality, heuristics-based swarm intelligence can be an efficient alternative. Particle swarm optimization (PSO), part of the swarm intelligence family, is known to effectively solve large-scale nonlinear optimization problems. This paper presents a detailed overview of the basic concepts of PSO and its variants. Also, it provides a comprehensive survey on the power system applications that have benefited from the powerful nature of PSO as an optimization technique. For each application, technical details that are required for applying PSO, such as its type, particle formulation (solution representation), and the most efficient fitness functions are also discussed.

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Particle Swarm Optimization: Basic Concepts, Variants and Applications in Power Systems

This paper presents a genetic algorithm (GA) solution to the unit commitment problem. GAs are general purpose optimization techniques based on principles inspired from the biological evolution using metaphors of mechanisms such as natural selection, genetic recombination and survival of the fittest. A simple GA algorithm implementation using the standard crossover and mutation operators could locate near optimal solutions but in most cases failed to converge to the optimal solution. However, using the varying quality function technique and adding problem specific operators, satisfactory solutions to the unit commitment problem were obtained. Test results for power systems of up to 100 units and comparisons with results obtained using Lagrangian relaxation and dynamic programming are also reported.

A genetic algorithm solution to the unit commitment problem

With the fast-paced changing technologies in the power industry, new power references addressing new technologies are coming to the market. So there is an urgent need to keep track of international experiences and activities taking place in the field of modern unit-commitment (UC) problem. This paper gives a bibliographical survey, mathematical formulations, and general backgrounds of research and developments in the field of UC problem for past 35 years based on more than 150 published articles. The collected literature has been divided into many sections, so that new researchers do not face any difficulty in carrying out research in the area of next-generation UC problem under both the regulated and deregulated power industry.

Unit commitment-a bibliographical survey

The work was conducted with the aim of finding a general method for solving the unit commitment (UC) problem. The proposed algorithm employs the evolutionary programming (EP) technique in which populations of contending solutions are evolved through random changes, competition, and selection. In the subject algorithm an overall UC schedule is coded as a string of symbols and viewed as a candidate for reproduction. Initial populations of such candidates are randomly produced to form the basis of subsequent generations. The practical implementation of this procedure yielded satisfactory results when the EP-based algorithm was tested on a reported UC problem previously addressed by some existing techniques such as Lagrange relaxation (LR), dynamic programming (DP), and genetic algorithms (GAs). Numerical results for systems of up to 100 units are given and commented on.

An evolutionary programming solution to the unit commitment problem

Several optimization techniques have been applied to the solution of the thermal unit commitment problem. They range from heuristics such as complete enumeration to the more sophisticated ones such as Augmented LaGrangian. The heuristics have even reappeared as expert systems. The problem to solve is the optimal scheduling of generating units over a short-term horizon, typically 168 hours. This paper is an overview of the literature in the unit commitment field over the past twenty five years. >

Unit commitment literature synopsis

The unit commitment problem in a power system involves determining a start-up and shut-down schedule of units to be used to meet the forecasted demand, over a future short term (24-168 hour) period. In solving the unit commitment problem, generally two basic decisions are involved. The "unit commitment" decision involves determining which generating units are to be running during each hour of the planning horizon, considering system capacity requirements including reserve, and the constraints on the start up and shut down of units. The related "economic dispatch" decision involves the allocation of system demand and spinning reserve capacity among the operating units during each specific hour of operation. As these two decisions are interrelated, the unit commitment problem generally embraces both these decisions, and the objective is to obtain an overall least cost solution for operating the power system over the scheduling horizon. The unit commitment problem belongs to the class of complex combinatorial optimization problems. During the past decade a new approach named "Lagrangian Relaxation" has been evolving for generating efficient solutions for this class of problems. It derives its name from the well-known mathematical technique of using Lagrange multipliers for solving constrained optimization problems, but is really a decomposition technique for the solution of large scale mathematical programming problems. The Lagrangian relaxation methodology generates easy subproblems for deciding commitment and generation schedules for single units over the planning horizon, independent of the commitment of other units.

Shishir Mukherjee

Papers

Implementation of a Lagrangian relaxation based unit commitment problem