Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Advances in Power System Control, Operation and Management, AHCOM 2000, Hong

Kong, Od&r 2000.

Optimal Power Flow with a Versatile FACTS Controller by Genetic Algorithm Approach
H C Leung T S Chung Department of Electrical Engineering The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Abstract: This paper presents a new genetic algorithrri ( G A ) niethod to solve optimal power flow (OPF) in power systeni incorporating jlexible AC transrnission systems (FACTS). As a powerfill and versatile FACTS device, UPFC (Qnified Power Elow Controller), is considered in the paper Ilnlike other FACTS devices, IJPFC hav a great flexibilit?; that car1 control the active power; reactive power and vultage . ~ ~ l l l l ~ ~ ~ ~ b l tl ~ l J.vohilioti lA~~/~ . the process. GA, cOrAp1ed with .fid AC power jlow, selects the besr regulation to triiriirntze the totul generation fuel cost and keep the power jlows within their seci4rip h i t s . The optimization process with GA is presented with case study exarnples using IEEE test .+vtern to detriortstrate its upplicabilip. The results are presented to show thejeasibility and potential of this n e w approach.

Since OPF is an non-linear problem, decouple of the control parameter of the FACTS device is a highly-nonlinear problem so that CA is used as a methodology to solve. In this context, more control facilities may complicate the system operation. As control facilities influence each nther. a good coordination is required in order to bring all devices to work together, without interfering with each other. Therefore, it becomes necessary to extend available system analysis tools, such as optimal power flow (OPF). to represent FACTS controls. It has also been noted that the OPF problem with series compensation may be a non-convex and non-linear problem, which will lead the conventional optimization method stuck into local minimum. The main purpose of OPF is to determine the optimal operation state of a power system while meeting some specified constraints. Since the OPF solution is introduced hy Squires [5], considerable amount of research on different optimization algorithms and solution methods have been done. especially in the recent three decades. The main existing techniques for solving the OPF problems include gradient method, Newton method, linear programming (LP), quadratic method, decomposition method, interior point method (IPM) and the latest method is Evolutionary Programming (EP) [6]. However, problems arise with the considerations of FACTS devices in OPF. The controllable parameters of UPFC cannot be added directly to those existing OPF techniques because these parameters will change the admittance matrix. This paper proposes an application of genetic algorithm (CA) to solve the OPF problems with FACTS devices. Genetic algorithm was first proposed by Holland in the early 1970s [7] and put into practical applications in the late 1980s [8]. In power systems GAS have been recently applied for optimization of generation expansion planning [ 91, economic dispatch [ 101, unit commitment i l l ] , reactive power planning [12,13]. GA is a search algorithm based on the mechanics of natural selection and natural genetics. GA is different from other optimization methods in the following features, which make GA a robust algorithm to adaptively search the global optimal point of certain class of engineering problems. The advantages of GA over other traditional optimization techniques can be summarized as follows:

'

Key-words: FACTS, VPFC. Genetic Algorithm, Optimal PotLvr Flow

1. Introduction
Deregulation of the electricity supply system becomes an important issue in many countries. Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS) [ 1 J devices become more commonly used as the power market becomes more competitive. They may be used to improve the transient responses of power system and can also control the power flow (both active and reactive power). The main advantages of FACTS are the ability in enhancing system flexibility and increasing the loadability. However, FACTS devices are also handicapped due to the high cost of the components. One of the current main research on FACTS devices is on the power flow control [2-41 and economic operation such as optimal power flow (OPF). OPF is part of the standard tools of the supervisory, control and data acquisition (SCADA) and energy management system (EMS). It schedules power system controls to optimize an objective function while satisfying non-linear equality and linear equality constraints.

In steady state operation of power system, unwanted loop flow and parallel power flow between utilities are problems in heavily loaded interconnected power systems. These two power flow problems are sometimes beyond the control of generators or it may cost too much with generator regulations. However, with UPFC and/or other control facilities based on power electronics components in network, the unwanted power flow can be easily regulated.

GA searches from a population of points, not a single point. The population can move over hills and across valleys.

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GA can therefore discover a globilly optimal point, because the computation for each individual in the population is independent of others. GA has inherent parallel computation ability.
GA uses payoff (fitness or objective functions) information directly for the search direction, not derivatives or other auxiliary knowledge. GA therefore can deal with non-smooth, non-continuous and non-differentiable functions that are the real-life optimization problems. OPF in FACTS is one of such problems. This property also relieves GA of the approximate assumptions for a lot of practical optimization problems, which are quite often required in traditional optimization methods.
GA uses probabilistic transition rules to select generations, not deterministic rules. They can search a complicated and uncertain area to find the global optimum. GA is more flexible and robust than the conventional methods. In this paper, a new GA approach to solve the optimal power flow control problem with FACTS is proposed, where UPFC is used as power flow controllers. UPFC can provide the necessary functional flexibility for optimal power flow control. This approach allows the combined application of phase angle control with controlled series and shunt reactive compensation. The total generation fuel cost is used as the objective function and the operation and security hnlits are considered. Simulation studies are carried out in a modified IEEE 14-bus system to show the effectiveness of the method. A methodology using the existing Newton-type load flow algorithm to incorporate the UPFC model has been presented [14,15]. This paper proposed a new method based on a genetic algorithm technique to incorporate the power flow control needs with active power OPF using AC power flow model.
2. Static Modelling of UPFC

One of the inverters is used to generate a voltage source at the fundamental frequency with variable amplitude and phase angle, which is added to the AC transmission line by the series connected boosting transformer. It is assumed that the operation of converter is loss free so that the UPFC neither
U T

4%

v i

1,

Iq

'j

absorb nor inject the active power with,respect to the system.

Figure 1. Basic configuration of UPFC

The effect of UPFC on network can he modellcd hy a series inserted voltage source UT and two tapped currents IT and lq. The model of the network with UPFC is shown in Fig.2
i i Le. 'I '
Transmission line Serirl fransfurmrr

p , ~ , U ,A,
'

'

I
Figure 2. Equivalent circuit of lJPFC
UPFC can control three parameters: the magnitude ( U T )and phase angle (@) of inserted voltage which is in series with the branch and the terminal voltage of shunt branch (U,) using reactive current source Zq control. The series branch voltage that is in.jected can be in any phase with respect to U, and can have any magnitude from 0 lo a defined maximum value, UTma'. The operating area becomes the region limited by a circle with radius Upn'. The phase angle of this voltage (@) is independent of the line current (4). It has magnitude from -n to n. The reactive current source Zq is assumed as either capactive or inductive and the magnitude is between 0 and a defined maximum value Zqmn', which is independent of the terminal voltage.

For Injected-power model, i t is a good model for FACTS devices because it will handle them well in load flow computation and OPF analysis. Since this method will not destroy existing admittance matrix B, it is easy for implementing in load flow programs. About load-equivalent method, actually it is only used when the control objectives of FACTS devices are known. In fact, the injected-power model is convenient and enough for power systems with FACTS devices. The basic structure of an UPFC [ 161 consists of shunt (exciting) and series (boosting) transformers, which are connected by two GTO converters that operate from a common dc-circuit consisting of a dc-storage capacitor.

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Figure 4. Injected Model of UPFC

According to the basic theory, the power injection model (PIM) [4] of network with UPFC can be shown as Figure.4 . The injected power at bus i and bus j is as follows:

Figure 3. Vector diagram of the equivalent circuit of UPFC

Based on the principle of UPFC, the basic mathematical relations can be derived as follows (CIGRE 1905) [ 171:

(12)
The injected active and reactive power equations at two related buses are derived as follows:

Thus, based on the basic mathematical relationship, the derivation of the power tlow equations o f UPFC from bus i to bus j and from bus j to bus i is as follows:

3. Problem Formulation

In this study, the optimal power flow problem has the objective of minimizing the total cost of operating the spatially separated generating units subject to the set of equations that characterize the flow of power through the system and all operational and security constraints. The OPF problem is solved in FACTS and the variable parameters of FACTS devices are considered. The optimal power flow problem in flexible AC transmission systems is therefore expressed as follows:

OIU,IU,maX

V i e NU

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0 I I , I z* -

V i NU

It is difficult to solve this problem formulation directly. i and Zq in the However, it is obvious that if the variables Ui , q above formulation are defined, the optimal power flow in flexible AC transmission systems is the same as a conventional full AC OPF problem, which can be solved by a Han-Powell algorithm with a variable-reduction-procedure [ 181. In other words, we can treat the OPF problem in FACTS with defined variables U , and Zq as a sub-set, and solve the OPF problem by the Han-Powell algorithm with a variable-reduction-procedure.The set of parameters of UPFC are considered as inputs and the cost of the network as outputs. The output of the OPF is the objective function to be minimized. The classical gradient method, that requires the derivative of the function, cannot be applied. Heuristic methods, that require only the value of the objective function, may be adapted to the current problem. It has been noted that the OPF problem with series compensation may be a non-convex problem [19] and it is not possible to guarantee that the Two-stage LP approach will converge [20]. With the big size of the search space, a genetic algorithm is used.

The control variables of the FACTS devices have been treated as discrete. In most existing Optimal Power Flow (OPF) algorithms, discrete variable controls treated as continuous variables and rounded off to their nearest discrete steps. This procedure gives acceptable solutions provided the step size for the discrete controls are sufficiently small. Since the control variables of the FACTS devices are continuous values, it is impossible to encode the parameter in binary coding since discretation error will occur [22]. The real-coded GAS should have an advantage over binary coded GAS in exploiting continuities in optimization function. Moreover, the real-code schema can propagate and grow at a higher rate in successive generations than the binary-code schema. The most important point is the equality constraints can be incorporated and satisified directly. Implementation of a problem in a GA starts from the parameter encoding (i.e., the representation of the problem). The encoding must be carefully designed to utilize the GAY s ability to efficiently transfer information between chromosome strings and objective function of problem. The proposed approach uses a conventional OPF problem as a black box, the optimal value of which is the fitness value of GA. The encoded qi, and I, where 0 I U , I U," , parameter is the variables Ui,
-R < p, I R and 0 I I,, I Zqya respectively. In the present work, the basic GA algorithm is adopted but the FACTS conwol setting are coded in chromosomes using floating-point algorithm. The proposed floating method solve the optimization problem involving parameters with continuous values. A chromosome coded by a string of N floating-point numbers. Each floating-point represent 32 bits and chromosome have 32*N string.

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4. Implementationof Genetic Algorithm

4.1 Principle of genetic algorithm

Genetic algorithms are computational procedures which use ideas borrowed from evolution genetics in that they solve problems by maintaining populations which survive and evolve through chance and the rule "survival of the fittest". Genetic algorithm is an optimization technique inspired by the theory of evolution. In a simple genetic algorithm, individuals are simplified to a chromosome that codes for the variables of the problem. The strength of an individual is the objective function that must be optimized. A population of candidates evolves by genetic operators: mutation, crossover and selection. The characteristics of good candidates have more chances to be inhented, because good candidates live longer. So the average strength of the population rises through the generations. Finally, the population stabilizes, because no better individual can be found. At that stage, the algorithm has converged, and most of the individuals in the population are mostly identical, and represent a sub-optimal solution to the problem. A genetic algorithm is governed by three factors: the mutation rate, the crossover rate and the population size. The implementation of genetic algorithm is detailed in [21]. GAS are search processes, which can be applied to unconstraint problems. Constraints may be included into the fitness function as added penalty terms. 4.2 Coding Scheme

4 3 Crossover and Mutation [22]

In the floating-point representation, the crossover operation acts the floating number as a unit and the length of floating-point coded schema be h. The mutation operation acts schema of order d, there are d fixed floating-point numbers in the schema.

4.4 Fitness Function

Implementation of an optimization problem of GA is realized within the evolutionary process of a fitness function. ?he fitness function adopted is given as:

Fitness =

Objective + Penalty

(28)

where objective function is the generation cost and the penalty is the bus voltage angle. Penalty cost has been added to

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discourage solutions which violate the binding constraints. Finally, the penalty factor is tended to zero.

4.6 Genetic Algorithm for OPF with FACTS device

The genetic algorithm to solve the optimal power flow with FACTS devices can be summarized as follows: Step 1. Initialize the population by randomly generating I number of chromosome (UT.(P,.and IqJ. then solve the OPF problem for each chromosome and evaluate its fitness value Step 2. For M number of generations, generate a new population from the present population using the followingsteps:
2.1 Scale the fitness of each chromosonic using the fitness function

Table 1.2 The generation cost of the different cases

The final result of Case 1 is shown in Table 1.2. Without FACTS devices, the cost of LF and OPF is 813.97 and 803.87 respectively. With FACTS device: the cost of LF and OPF is 814.95 and 805.01 respectively. The results show that the generation cost increase with FACTS device since the parameter constraint of UPFC is included.

2.2 Copy the chromosomes with the best fit to the new population
2.3 The remaining offsprings can be generated by randomly select two parents with probability proportional to its corresponding scaled fitness. With mutation probability. apply the mutation process to the offspring until new population is filled.

Table 2. Target control of UPFC

I CaseB

2.4 Solve the OPF problem for all chromosome and re-evaluate the fitness value using the fitness function.

I CaseD I

5. Numerical Example and Results

In this section, the modified IEEE-3O@s system has been used to test the effectiveness of the proposed method. The test system data can he found in [ 2 3 ] . There are three cases to be discussed. Case 1 with target UPFC control parameter which is showed in Table 1. I . Case 2 target active power and reactive power control of UPFC which is showed in Table 2.1
A represents active generating power without FACTS device

pGi(m) 1 293.90
Z Co.rt ($/hr)

805.35

293.68 804.62

Table 2.2 Results of Case 2

The target of active and reactive power is achieved after the OPF calculation. From the table 1.1 and 1.2, the cost of OPF with FACTS device is much larger than the OPF without FACTS device since FACTS device needs more constraints. Therefore, the cost of OPF will be high in the OPF. However, FACTS can change the power distribution effectively, reduce the system losses.

installed. B represents generating active power of OPF without FACTS device. C represents active generating power with FACTS device with load flow calculation and D represents the same condition with C but with OPF rather than LF.

6. Conclusions
purumeter

The GAS is implemented for the test problem using toumament selection, two-point crossover, random mutation and elitism.

Table 1.1 Control parameter of UPFC (in PA.)

CaseA

CaseB

CaseC

CaseD

In this paper, a new genetic algorithm method is presented to solve the optimal power flow problem of power system with flexible AC transmission systems (FACTS). The proposed

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method introduces the injected power model of FACTS devices into a conventional AC optimal power flow problem to exploit the new characteristic of FACTS devices. Case studies on modified IEEE test system show the potential for application of GA to determine the control parameter of the power flow controls with FACTS. It can be shown that the FACTS device cannot reduce the generation cost (i.e. it is not a cost saving device) compared with normal system OPF. However, it can increase the controllability and feasibility of the system; it can provide wider operating margin and higher voltage stability with higher reserve capacity. As deregulation and contract path is becoming more common, FACTS devices play an important role in the power system. In this method, CA effectively finds the optimal setting of the control parameters by using the conventional OPF method as a supplementary black box. It also shows that CA is suited to deal with non-smooth, non-continuous. non-differentiable and non-convex problem, such as the optimal power flow problem with FACTS.
7. References
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8. Acknowledgement

The authors acknowledge the funding support of the Central Research Grant from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The advices of Professor Kit Po Wong from University of Western Australia is highly appreciated.