Modified Firefly Algorithm in Solving Economic Dispatch Problems with Practical Constraints

This paper presents a modified Firefly Algorithm
(MFA) for solving economic dispatch (ED) problems. ED is one
of the most challenging problems of power system since it is
difficult to determine the optimum generation scheduling to meet
the particular load demand with the minimum fuel costs while all
constraints are satisfied. In addition the practical ED problems
which are involving objective functions with quality and
inequality constraints including the practical operation
constraints of generators such as ramp rate limit, prohibited
operating zones and generation limits make it harder to find the
global optimum results of ED. To demonstrate the effectiveness
and feasibility of MFA in solving ED, two well-known ED test
systems with non-convex solution features have been tested and
compared with some of the most recently published ED solution
methods in literatures. The results of this research show that
MFA is able to find more economical solution than those
determined by other methods.