Optimal SVC allocation via symbiotic organisms search for voltage security improvement

It is desirable that a power system operation is in a normal operating condition. However, the increase of load demand in a power system has forced the system to operate near to its stability limit whereby an increase in load poses a threat to the power system security. In solving this issue, optimal reactive power support via SVC allocation in a power system has been proposed. In this paper, Symbiotic Organisms Search (SOS) algorithm is implemented to solve for optimal allocation of SVC in the power system. IEEE 26 Bus Reliability Test System is used as the test system. Comparative studies are also conducted concerning Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Evolutionary Programming (EP) techniques based on several case studies. Based on the result, SOS has proven its superiority by producing higher quality solutions compared to PSO and EP. The results of this study can benefit the power system operators in planning for optimal power system operations.