Application of Genetic

Algorithm to Economic
Load Dispatch
ABSTRACT

This paper presents an approach based on genetic algorithm to solve the economic load
dispatch (ELD) problem with losses for three thermal plant systems. Genetic algorithms are
adaptive search methods that simulate some of the natural processes: selection, information,
inheritance, random mutation and population dynamics. This approach was tested for three
thermal plant systems. The performance of Genetic Algorithm - intelligent approach (GAs) is
compared with the classical Kirchmayer method and it is observed that this method is accurate
and may replace effectively the conventional practices presently performed in different central
load dispatch centers.
 INDEX

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Economic Load Dispatch (ELD)
3. Factors To Consider In The EDC
3.1 Cost of Generation
3.2 Price
3.3 Quantity Supplied
4. Objective of EDC
5. Classic Economic Load Dispatch Problem
6. Genetic Algorithm (GA)
7. Brief Description of Gas Operators
7.1 Crossover
7.2 Mutation
7.3 Selection
8. Basic Structure of GA
9. Application of Gas To Economic Load Dispatch Problem
9.1 Encoding And Decoding
9.2 Objective And Fitness Function Formulation

10. Algorithm For ELD Using GA

11. Simulation Results And Performance

12. Conclusion
 1. INTRODUCTION:-
Economic load dispatch (ELD) is a sub problem of the optimal power flow (OPF) having
the objective of fuel cost minimization. The classical solutions for ELD problems have used
equal incremental cost criterion for the loss-less system and use of penalty factors for
considering the system losses. The lambda-iterative method has been used for ELD. Many other
methods such as gradient methods, Newton’s methods, linear and quadratic programming, etc
have also been applied to the solution of ELD problems. However, all these methods are based
on assumption of continuity and differentiability of cost functions. Hence, the cost functions
have been approximated in the differentiable form, mostly in the quadratic form. Further, these
methods also suffer on two main counts. One is their inability to provide global optimal solution
and getting stuck at local optima. The second problem is handling the integer or discrete
variables.
Genetic algorithms (GAs) have been proved to be effective and quite robust in solving
the optimization problems. GAs can provide near global solutions and can also handle effectively
the discrete control variables. GAs does not stick into local optima because GAs begins with
many initial points and search for the most optimum in parallel. GAs considers only the pay-off
information of objective function regardless whether it is differentiable or continuous.
Consequently, the most realistic cost characteristic of power plants can be formulated.
Discontinuity and non-differentiability of cost charecteristics can be effectively handled by GAs.
This paper proposes the application of GAs to solve the economic load dispatch for three
thermal plant systems and the results are compared with conventional method.

2. Economic Load Dispatch:-

An economic dispatch calculation (EDC) is performed to dispatch, or schedule, a set of
online generating units to collectively produce electricity at a level that satisfies a specified
demand in an economical manner. Each online generating unit may have many characteristics
that make it unique, and which must be considered in the calculation. The amount of electricity
demanded can vary quickly and schedule produced by an EDC should leave units able to
respond and adapt without major implications to cost or profit. The electric system may have
limits (e.g., voltage, transmission, etc.) that impact the EDC and hence should be considered.
Generating units may have prohibited generation levels at which resonant frequencies may cause
damage or other problems to the system. The impact of transmission losses, congestion, and
limits that may inhibit the ability to serve the load in a particular region from a particular
generator (e.g., a low-cost generator) should be considered. The market structure within an
operating region and its associated regulations must be considered in determining the specified
demand, and in determining what constitutes economical operation. An independent system
operator (ISO) tasked with maximizing social welfare would likely have a different definition of
‘‘economical’’ than does a generation company (GENCO) wishing to maximize its profit in a
competitive environment. The EDC must consider all of these factors and develop a schedule
that sets the generation levels in accordance with an economic objective function.

3. Factors to Consider in the EDC:-

3.1 The Cost of Generation:-

Cost is one of the primary characteristics of a generating unit that must be
considered when dispatching units economically. The EDC is concerned with the short-term
operating cost, which is primarily determined by fuel cost and usage. Fuel usage is closely
related to generation level. Very often, the relationship between power level and fuel cost is
approximated by a quadratic curve:
F=aP2 + bP + c.
c is a constant term that represents the cost of operating the plant, b is a linear term that
varies directly with the level of generation, and a is the term that accounts for efficiency changes
over the range of the plant output.Aquadratic relationship is often used in the research
literature.However, due to varying conditions at certain levels of production (e.g., the opening or
closing of large valves may affect the generation cost [Walters and Sheble´, 1992]), the actual
relationship between power level and fuel costmay be more complex than a quadratic equation.
Many of the long-term generating unit costs (e.g., costs attributed directly to starting and
stopping the unit, capital costs associated with financing the construction) can be ignored for the
EDC, since the decision to switch on, or commit, the units has already been made. Other
characteristics of generating units that affect theEDCare theminimum andmaximumgeneration
levels at which theymay operate.When binding, these constraints will directly impact the EDC
schedule.

3.2 The Price:-

The price at which an electric supplier will be compensated is another important

factor in determining an optimal economic dispatch. In many areas of the world, electric power
systems have been, or still are, treated as a natural monopoly. Regulations allow the utilities to
charge rates that guarantee them a nominal profit. In competitive markets, which come in a
variety of flavors, price is determined through the forces of supply and demand. Economic
theory and common sense tell us that if the total supply is high and the demand is low, the price
is likely to be low, and vice versa. If the price is consistently below a GENCO’s average total
costs, the company may soon be bankrupt.

3.3 The Quantity Supplied:-

The amount of electric energy to be supplied is another fundamental input for the
EDC. Regions of the world having regulations that limit competition often require electric
utilities to serve all electric demand within a designated service territory. If a consumer switches
on a motor, the electric supplier must provide the electric energy needed to operate the motor. In
competitive markets, this obligation to serve is limited to those with whom the GENCO has a
contract. Beyond its contractual obligations, the GENCO may be willing (if the opportunity
arises) to supply additional consumer demand. Since the
consumers have a choice of electric supplier, a GENCO determining the schedule of its own
online generating units may choose to supply all, none, or only a portion of that additional
consumer demand.
The decision is dependent on the objective of the entity performing the EDC (e.g., profit
maximization, improving reliability, etc.). _ 2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
EDC and System Limitations A complex network of transmission and distribution lines
and equipment are required to move the electric energy from the generating units to the
consumer loads. The secure operation of this network depends on bus voltage magnitudes and
angles being within certain tolerances. Excessive transmission line loading can also affect the
security of the power system network. Since superconductivity is a relatively new field, lossless
transmission lines are expensive and are not commonly used. Therefore, some of the energy
being transmitted over the system is converted into heat and is consequently lost. The schedule
produced by the EDC directly affects losses and security; hence, constraints ensuring proper
system operation must be considered when solving the EDC problem.

4. The Objective of EDC:-

In a regulated, vertically integrated, monopolistic environment, the obligated-to-
serve electric utility performs the EDC for the entire service area by itself. In such an
environment, providing electricity in an ‘‘economical manner’’ means minimizing the cost of
generating electricity, subject to meeting all demand and other system operating constraints. In a
competitive environment, the way an EDC is done can vary from one market structure to
another. For instance, in a decentralized market, the EDC may be performed by a single GENCO
wishing to maximize its expected profit given the prices, demands, costs, and other constraints
described above. In a power pool, a central oordinating entity may perform an EDC to centrally
dispatch generation for many GENCOs. Depending on the market rules, the generation owners
may be able to mask the cost information of their generators. In this case, bids would be
submitted for various price levels and used in the EDC.

5. CLASSIC ECONOMIC LOAD DISPATCH PROBLEM:-

The objective of the ELD problem is to minimize the total fuel cost at thermal plants
n

OBJ = ∑ Fi (Pi)
i=1

Subject to the constraint of equality in real power balanc

n

∑ Pi – PL – PD = 0
i=1

The inequality constraints of real power limits of the generation outputs are
 Pi min < Pi < Pi max

Where
Fi (Pi) is the individual generation production in terms of its real power generation
Pi, Pi the output generation for unit i, n the number of generators in the system
Pd the total current system load demand, and Pl the total system transmission losses.
The thermal plant can be expressed as input-output models (cost function), where the
input is the fuel cost and the output the power output of each unit, in practice, the cost function
could be represented by a quadratic function.

Fi (Pi) = Ai * Pi2 + Bi * Pi + Ci

The incremental cost curve data are obtained by taking the derivative of the unit input-
output equation resulting in the following equation for each generator:

dFi (Pi) / dPi = 2 Ai * Pi + Bi

Transmission losses are a function of the unit generations and are based on the system
topology. Solving the ELD equations for a specified system requires an iterative approach since
all unit generation allocations are embedded in the equation for each unit. In practice, the loss
penalty factors are usually obtained using on line power flow software. This information is
updated to ensure accuracy. They can also be calculated directly using the Bmn matrix loss
formula.
PL = Pi Bij Pj

Where Bij are coefficients, constants for certain conditions.

 Quadratic Representation of Unit 1 Fuel Costs

4000

3000

2000

1000

150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500

100 MWs generated
Corresponding Average Fuel Costs for Unit 1
8

5
100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500

Relationship between fuel input and power output.

6. GENETIC ALGORITHM:-
 GAs is inspired from phenomena found in living nature. The phenomena
incorporated so far in GA models include phenomena of natural selection as there are selection
and the production of variation by means of recombination and mutation, and rarely inversion,
diploid and others. Most genetic algorithms work with one large panmictic population, i.e, in the
recombination step each individual may potentially choose any other individual from the
population as a mate. Then GA operators are performed to obtain the new child offspring.

Genetic algorithms are implemented in a computer simulation in which a population of

abstract representations (called chromosomes or the genotype of the genome) of candidate
solutions (called individuals, creatures, or phenotypes) to an optimization problem evolves
toward better solutions. Traditionally, solutions are represented in binary as strings of 0s and 1s,
but other encodings are also possible. The evolution usually starts from a population of randomly
generated individuals and happens in generations. In each generation, the fitness of every
individual in the population is evaluated, multiple individuals are stochastically selected from the
current population (based on their fitness), and modified (recombined and possibly randomly
mutated) to form a new population. The new population is then used in the next iteration of
the algorithm. Commonly, the algorithm terminates when either a maximum number of
generations has been produced, or a satisfactory fitness level has been reached for the population.
If the algorithm has terminated due to a maximum number of generations, a satisfactory solution
may or may not have been reached.

Genetic algorithms find application in bioinformatics, phylogenetics, computational

science, engineering, economics, chemistry, manufacturing, mathematics, physics and other
fields.

A typical genetic algorithm requires:

1. a genetic representation of the solution domain,

2. a fitness function to evaluate the solution domain.

A standard representation of the solution is as an array of bits. Arrays of other types and
structures can be used in essentially the same way. The main property that makes these genetic
representations convenient is that their parts are easily aligned due to their fixed size, which
facilitates simple crossover operations. Variable length representations may also be used, but
crossover implementation is more complex in this case. Tree-like representations are explored
in genetic programming and graph-form representations are explored in evolutionary
programming.

The fitness function is defined over the genetic representation and measures the quality of
the represented solution. The fitness function is always problem dependent. For instance, in
the knapsack problem one wants to maximize the total value of objects that can be put in a
knapsack of some fixed capacity. A representation of a solution might be an array of bits, where
each bit represents a different object, and the value of the bit (0 or 1) represents whether or not
the object is in the knapsack. Not every such representation is valid, as the size of objects may
exceed the capacity of the knapsack. The fitness of the solution is the sum of values of all objects
in the knapsack if the representation is valid, or 0 otherwise. In some problems, it is hard or even
impossible to define the fitness expression; in these cases, interactive genetic algorithms are
used.

Once we have the genetic representation and the fitness function defined, GA proceeds to
initialize a population of solutions randomly, then improve it through repetitive application of
mutation, crossover, inversion and selection operators.

7. Brief Description of GAs Operators:-

There are three important GA operators which are commonly used are as follows:

crossover,

Mutation, and
(i) Selection and survival of the fittest.
 7.1 Crossover:-
The task of crossover is the creation of new individuals of the current population.
An individual can be viewed on chromosome level as Cj = (cj1,cj2,cj3.......cjn). The child
chromosome Ck = ((c1,c1’),(c2,c2’),…..(cn,cn’)) is created by recombination of its parent
chromosomes pi = (c1,c2,c3,…..,cn) and Pj = (c1’,c2’,…..,cn’).
The recombination operation (ci,ci’) is the projection to the first on second component of
the parameter list, namely,
P1 = ( 0 0 1 0 : 1 1 0 ) and
P2 = (1 0 1 1 : 0 0 1),
|__________________ xsite

The child strings can be obtained after the recombination or crossover are

C1 = ( 1 0 1 1 : 1 1 0) and

C2 = (0 0 1 0 : 0 1 1).
Hence, it can be concluded that the crossover operator has three distinct sub steps,
namely,
i. Slice each of the parent strings in the sub strings,
ii. Exchange a pair of corresponding sub strings of the parents, and
iii. Merge the two respective sub strings to form offspring.

7.2 Mutation:-
Mutation is the important operator, because newly created individuals have no
new inheritance information and the number of alleles is constantly decreasing. This process
results in contraction of the population to one point, which is only wished at the end of the
population to one point, which is only wished at the end of the convergence process, after the
population works in a very promising part of the search space. Diversity is necessary to search a
big part of the search space. It is on goal of the learning algorithm to search always in regions not
viewed before. Therefore, it is necessary to enlarge the information contained in the population.
One way to achieve this goal is mutation. The mutation operator M (chromosome) selects a gene
of that chromosome and changes the allele by an amount m , the mutation variance. This happens
with a mutation frequency m. the parameter m and m have major influence of the quality of the
learning algorithm. Mutation can be illustrated with the help of an example,

Let a string is P1 (0 0 1 0 1 0 0)
|__________________ msite
after the mutation at the second position

p1=(0110100)

7.3 Selection:-
In the implementation of genetic algorithm, the best individuals using roulette
wheel with slot sized according to fitness is selected, so that the probability of selection of best
strings are more. Further more , one only accept an offspring as a new member of the population,
if it differs enough from the other individuals , at least by some significant amount . After
accepting a new individual, one of the worst individuals is removed,i.e. its fitness value is quite
low from the population in order to hold the population size constant. In the present
implementation the worst fit individual is removed because the algorithm is not sensible against
this selection. The complete genetic algorithm is represented with the help of a flow chart.
To maximize the efficiency of GAs, the three inherent parameters of GAs are to be
optimized, the mutation probability Pm, crossover probability Pc and the population size
POPSIZE.
8. BASIC STRUCTURE OF GA:-
APPLICATION OF GAs TO ECONOMIC LOAD DISPATCH
PROBLEM:-
9.1 ENCODING AND DECODING:-
Encoding is a process of coding a problem as a number of finite strings. It
typically utilizes the binary alphabet {0,1}. The types of encoding schemes have been developed
by researches, which are called series encoding and embedded encoding. The series encoding
simply stacks each unit’s output value structure in series with each other in the string. Each unit’s
output gene structure is assigned the same number of loci with in the string. The embedded
encoding scheme uses the same
Systems for representation and decoding as the first, except the assigned gene structures
are embedded with in each other through out the string. The string is made up of a series of
smaller gene structures, each containing one gene locus for each unit. It has been reported that
series encoding can provide a better ED solution. In this paper a binary series coding is used
through out all the GAs.
Decoding a binary string into an unsigned integer can play very important roles in GA
implementation. The inequality power limit constraint is performed in such a way that the
individual string is normalized over the unit’s operating region. The inequality constraints are
handled in this manner, which efficiently reduces the searching space, and thus enhances the
performance of the system.
The decoding method is formulated in Eq. (8).
Value = bit 0 X x 20 + bit 1 X x 21+………+ bit i X x 2 i + ……+
Bit chrom-length X x 2 chrom-length
If the optimized parameter belongs to (Pimax – Pimin) decoding value of the parameter in
computer by Eq. (9).
[ value X (Pimax – Pimin) ]
Pi = Pimin +-------------------------------
2 chrom-length – 1
 9.2 Objective and Fitness Function Formulation:-

In the ED problem, the goal is to minimize the objective function

n

Ft = ∑ Fi (Pi)
i=1

with the constraint of equality

n

∑ Pi – PL – PD = 0
i=1

is changed to constraint optimization problem and thus forming fitness function.

Fct = Ft + PF [ ∑ Pi – PL – PD ]
i=1

Where PF is penalty factor. The penalty function is placed into the objective function in
such a way that it penalizes any violation of constraints and forces that unconstrained optima
towards the feasible region. In the ELD problem the goal is to minimize the objective function
FCT,while the objective when using GAs is to maximize a fitness function. It is therefore
necessary to map the fitness function FCT in the given form.
Ftt = EXP [ - (K1* Fct) K2 ]
K1 and K2 are constants and the value is problem dependent. Considerin the evolutionary
process of the GAs, the solution is improved through the generations and also to decrease the
penalty function over the successive iterations can be adapted with the penalty function varying
directly with the number of generations. This ensures that only the objective function is
ultimately minimized with a feasible solution.
ALGORITHM FOR ELD USING GA:-
For solution of ELD using SGA, incremental fuel cost of the generators i.e. lambda is
encoded in the chromosome. The algorithm for implementing ELD without losses using Simple
GA is as follows.
1. Read population size, chromosome length, unit data, Pdemand, Probability of Elitism,
Crossover and mutation.
2. Randomly generate population of chromosomes.
3. Decode the chromosomes using (6).
4. Lambda_act = Lambda_min + (Lambda_max - Lambda_min)* Decoded lambda
5. Use the Lambda_act and cost coefficients of the generators, and calculate real power output of
the generators (Pgen).
6. Calculate the error of each chromosome as (Sum of Pgen) – Pdemand.
7. Fitness(i) of each chromosome is calculated as 1/(1+error(i)/Pdemand).
8. Arrange the chromosomes in the descending order of their fitness.
9. Check if error(1) ≤ 0.0001*Pdemand
10. If yes STOP and calculate Optimal fuel cost and Pgen of units
Else
11. Check if Fitness(1)=Fitness(last chromosome)
12. If yes print ‘All chromosomes have equal values’, calculate Optimal fuel cost and Pgen of
units and STOP.
Else
13. Apply elitism, Reproduction (RWS), crossover and mutation and generate new population
from old one.
14. Update generation count.
15. Check if Generation count > maximum generations?
16. If yes, print ‘Problem not converged in maximum number of generations’, STOP.
Else
17. Repeat from step 3.
SIMULATION RESULTS AND PERFORMANCE:-

Three thermal plant system

To focus on the evaluation of the proposed GA, a three-unit power system is used. The
data used in this paper are obtained from Sheble and Britting are as follows:
F1 = 0.00156 X P12 + 7.92 X P1 + 561 Rs/hr
F2 = 0.00194 X P22 + 7.85 X P2 + 310 Rs/hr
F3 = 0.00482 X P32 + 7.97 X P3 + 78 Rs/hr

0.0000050 0.000005 0.0000075

Bmn = 0.0000050 0.000015 0.0000100
0.0000075 0.000010 0.0000450
The total operating ranges for this example are
100 MW < P1 < 600 MW
100 MW < P2 < 400 MW
50 MW < P3 < 200 MW

The parameters used in GA are as follows

Population size 10 Chromosome length 36
Sub-Chromosome lengths 13,12,11 Crossover probability 0.5
Mutation Probability 0.01

Total load classical Kirchmayer Method

Pd PG1 PG2 PG3 PL Cost(Rs/hr)
812.57 325.116 371.012 130.00 13.558 7986.093
585.33 233.258 268.106 90.933 6.962 5890.063
869.00 345.120 400.660 138.610 15.420 8522.450

Total load GA
Pd PG1 PG2 PG3 PL Cost(Rs/hr)
 812.57 314.381 383.003 128.334 13.146 7986.069
585.33 243.450 257.655 91.475 7.250 5890.0947
869.00 355.524 395.091 134.196 15.812 8122.852

Genetic algorithm claims to provide near optimal or optimal solution for computationally
intensive problems. Therefore the effectiveness of genetic algorithm solutions should always be
evaluated by C Language was tested for three thermal plant systems. The performance of Genetic
Algorithmic approach (GAs) is compared with the classical Kirchmayer method and as given in
table1. It is observed that this method is accurate and may replace effectively in the conventional
practices presently performed in different central load dispatch centres.
CONCLUSION:-

This paper has attempted to solve economic load dispatch problem of the power
system networks The results are obtained for three thermal plant systems.

FUTURE SCOPE:-
This method can be extended to one plant as combined cycle cogeneration plant
in multi thermal plant system.
REFERENCES:-

1. A J Wood and B F Wollenburg “power generation operation and control”. John wiley and sons,
1984.
2. D E Goldberg and J H Holland ,“ Genetic Algorithms in search optimization and Machine
Learning” Addison Wesley,1989.
3. Z Michealewicz “Genetic Algorithms + Data structure=Evolution Programs” Springer
verlag,Berlin,Heidelberg,Newyork,1992.
4.Y H Song and C S V Chov.’Advanced Engineered conditioning Genetic Approach to Power
Economic Dispatch.’ IEE Proceedings—Generation Transmission and Distribution,vol 144, no
3,May1997,p285.