A hybrid firefly algorithm and pattern search technique for automatic generation control of multi area power systems

In this paper, a novel hybrid Firefly Algorithm and Pattern Search (hFA–PS) technique is proposed for Automatic Generation Control (AGC) of multi-area power systems with the consideration of Generation Rate Constraint (GRC). Initially a two area non-reheat thermal system with Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) controller is considered and the parameters of PID controllers are optimized by Firefly Algorithm (FA) employing an Integral Time multiply Absolute Error (ITAE) objective function. Pattern Search (PS) is then employed to fine tune the best solution provided by FA. The superiority of the proposed hFA–PS based PID controller has been demonstrated by comparing the results with some recently published modern heuristic optimization techniques such as Bacteria Foraging Optimization Algorithm (BFOA), Genetic Algorithm (GA) and conventional Ziegler Nichols (ZN) based PI/PID controllers for the same interconnected power system. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis is performed to show the robustness of the optimized controller parameters by varying the system parameters and operating load conditions from their nominal values. Finally, the proposed approach is extended to multi area multi source hydro thermal power system with/without considering the effect of physical constraints such as time delay, reheat turbine, GRC, and Governor Dead Band (GDB) nonlinearity. The controller parameters of each area are optimized under normal and varied conditions using proposed hFA–PS technique. It is observed that the proposed technique is able to handle nonlinearity and physical constraints in the system model.