Solving economic load dispatch problem with valve-point effects using a hybrid quantum mechanics inspired particle swarm optimisation

Economic load dispatch (ELD) performs an important part in the economic operation of power system. The ELD problem is considered as a non-linear constrained optimisation problem. The problem becomes non-convex and non-smooth when the generators' prohibited zones and valve-point effect are considered. The purpose of this work is to present a solution strategy to solve ELD problem in an efficient way while considering several aspects of ELD. The strategy employs a hybrid mechanism involving a quantum mechanics inspired particle swarm optimisation (PSO). The conventional PSO is modified by integrating quantum mechanics theory that redefines the particles positions and velocities in more diverse manner and therefore explores more search space. The PSO is further upgraded from a single population-based to a multi-population one. Such feature of the method delivers a fine balance between the local and global searching abilities. The simulations are carried by considering several cases of thermal units by varying different combinations of system configurations such as with/without valve-point effect, with/without network loss and for one or several hours of load demand. The results are quite promising and effective compared with several benchmark methods.