A particle swarm optimization for reactive power and voltage control considering voltage security assessment

TLDR

VVC can be formulated as a mixed‑integer nonlinear optimization problem (MINLP). This paper presents a particle swarm optimization for reactive power and voltage control that incorporates voltage security assessment. The method extends PSO to solve the MINLP, determining an online VVC strategy with continuous and discrete controls such as AVR settings, OLTC tap positions, and reactive power compensation, while incorporating voltage security via continuation power flow and contingency analysis. The proposed method proved feasible and outperformed reactive tabu search and enumeration on practical power system models, yielding promising results.

Abstract

This paper presents a particle swarm optimization (PSO) for reactive power and voltage control (volt/VAr control: VVC) considering voltage security assessment (VSA). VVC can be formulated as a mixed-integer nonlinear optimization problem (MINLP). The proposed method expands the original PSO to handle a MINLP and determines an online VVC strategy with continuous and discrete control variables such as automatic voltage regulator (AVR) operating values of generators, tap positions of on-load tap changer (OLTC) of transformers, and the number of reactive power compensation equipment. The method considers voltage security using a continuation power flow and a contingency analysis technique. The feasibility of the proposed method is demonstrated and compared with reactive tabu search (RTS) and the enumeration method on practical power system models with promising results.