Application of meta-heuristic methods to robust FACTS controllers design

Abstract

This paper presents a simple method to simultaneously tune Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS) in multimachine power systems. The proposed approach employs Genetic Algorithms (GA) and particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). The objective is to maximise the minimum damping ratios, subject to all combinations of their locations. The proposed approach has been examined and tested on the 2-area, 4-machine system which is close to realistic interconnected power systems model. The results are promising and show the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed approach.