A new approach to energy generation planning for optimum operation in large scale power systems

The optimum operation of the electrical energy systems is of significant importance in terms of the different cost characteristics of the generation units especially in large scale systems. But due to the technical limitations, the most economical operation point, is not always the desired operating point for the system and/or the generation units. Some other criteria such as stability and reliability are also important in the operation of power systems. Generally, these operation criteria do not occur at same points. In this study, the most economical operating point of the power system is obtained considering the unit commitment problem, and the system voltage stability is taken into account in the consequent solution for each load profile. In this thesis, the optimum economic operation cost is obtained using the evolutionary programming and the genetic algorithms and then the voltage stability is calculated for different system buses. Finally, these two criteria are used within the ?Learning Automata? technique to get not only an excellent stability region but also an economical operation point. Keywords: Unit commitment problem, economic dispatch, voltage stability, evolutionary programming, genetic algorithm, learning automata.