Constructive heuristic algorithm in branch-and-bound structure applied to transmission network expansion planning

A constructive heuristic algorithm to solve the transmission system expansion planning problem is proposed with the aim of circumventing some critical problems of classical heuristic algorithms that employ relaxed mathematical models to calculate a sensitivity index that guides the circuit additions. The proposed heuristic algorithm is in a branch-and-bound algorithm structure, which can be used with any planning model, such as Transportation model, DC model, AC model or Hybrid models. Tests of the proposed algorithm are presented on real Brazilian systems.

Transmission Expansion Planning Via a Constructive Heuristic Algorithm in Restructured Electricity Industry

The transmission expansion planning problem in modern power systems is a large-scale, mixed-integer, nonlinear and non-convex problem. this paper presents a new mathematical model and a constructive heuristic algorithm (CHA) for solving transmission expansion planning problem under new environment of electricity restructuring. CHA finds an acceptable solution in an iterative process, where in each step a circuit is chosen using a sensitivity index and added to the system. The proposed model consider multiple generation scenarios therefore the methodology finds high quality solution in which it allows the power system operate adequacy in an environment with multiple generators scenarios. Case studies and simulation results using test systems show possibility of using Constructive heuristic algorithm in an open access system.

Hybrid evolutionary algorithm for the Capacitated Centered Clustering Problem

The Capacitated Centered Clustering Problem (CCCP) consists of defining a set of p groups with minimum dissimilarity on a network with n points. Demand values are associated with each point and each group has a demand capacity. The problem is well known to be NP-hard and has many practical applications. In this paper, the hybrid method Clustering Search (CS) is implemented to solve the CCCP. This method identifies promising regions of the search space by generating solutions with a metaheuristic, such as Genetic Algorithm, and clustering them into clusters that are then explored further with local search heuristics. Computational results considering instances available in the literature are presented to demonstrate the efficacy of CS. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Constructive Heuristic Algorithm for Distribution System Planning

A constructive heuristic algorithm (CHA) to solve distribution system planning (DSP) problem is presented. The DSP is a very complex mixed binary nonlinear programming problem. A CHA is aimed at obtaining an excellent quality solution for the DSP problem. However, a local improvement phase and a branching technique were implemented in the CHA to improve its solution. In each step of the CHA, a sensitivity index is used to add a circuit or a substation to the distribution system. This sensitivity index is obtained by solving the DSP problem considering the numbers of circuits and substations to be added as continuous variables (relaxed problem). The relaxed problem is a large and complex nonlinear programming and was solved through an efficient nonlinear optimization solver. Results of two tests systems and one real distribution system are presented in this paper in order to show the ability of the proposed algorithm.

Efficient heuristic algorithm used for optimal capacitor placement in distribution systems

An efficient heuristic algorithm is presented in this work in order to solve the optimal capacitor placement problem in radial distribution systems. The proposal uses the solution from the mathematical model after relaxing the integrality of the discrete variables as a strategy to identify the most attractive bus to add capacitors to each step of the heuristic algorithm. The relaxed mathematical model is a nonlinear programming problem and is solved using a specialized interior point method, The algorithm still incorporates an additional strategy of local search that enables the finding of a group of quality solutions after small alterations in the optimization strategy. Proposed solution methodology has been implemented and tested in known electric systems getting a satisfactory outcome compared with metaheuristic methods.The tests carried out in electric systems known in specialized literature reveal the satisfactory outcome of the proposed algorithm compared with metaheuristic methods. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Constructive heuristic algorithm for the DC model in network transmission expansion planning

A novel constructive heuristic algorithm to the network expansion planning problem is presented the basic idea comes from Garver's work applied to the transportation model, nevertheless the proposed algorithm is for the DC model. Tests results with most known systems in the literature are carried out to show the efficiency of the method.

A constructive heuristic algorithm to Short Term Transmission Network Expansion Planning

In this paper a method for solving the Short Term Transmission Network Expansion Planning (STTNEP) problem is presented. The STTNEP is a very complex mixed integer nonlinear programming problem that presents a combinatorial explosion in the search space. In this work we present a constructive heuristic algorithm to find a solution of the STTNEP of excellent quality. In each step of the algorithm a sensitivity index is used to add a circuit (transmission line or transformer) to the system. This sensitivity index is obtained solving the STTNEP problem considering as a continuous variable the number of circuits to be added (relaxed problem). The relaxed problem is a large and complex nonlinear programming and was solved through an interior points method that uses a combination of the multiple predictor corrector and multiple centrality corrections methods, both belonging to the family of higher order interior points method (HOIPM). Tests were carried out using a modified Carver system and the results presented show the good performance of both the constructive heuristic algorithm to solve the STTNEP problem and the HOIPM used in each step.

Heuristic algorithm to solve the short term transmission network expansion planning

In this paper, a method for solving the short term transmission network expansion planning problem is presented. This is a very complex mixed integer nonlinear programming problem that presents a combinatorial explosion in the search space. In order to And a solution of excellent quality for this problem, a constructive heuristic algorithm is presented in this paper. In each step of the algorithm, a sensitivity index is used to add a circuit (transmission line or transformer) or a capacitor bank (fixed or variable) to the system. This sensitivity index is obtained solving the problem considering the numbers of circuits and capacitors banks to be added (relaxed problem), as continuous variables. The relaxed problem is a large and complex nonlinear programming and was solved through a higher order interior point method. The paper shows results of several tests that were performed using three well-known electric energy systems in order to show the possibility and the advantages of using the AC model. ©2007 IEEE.

Distribution network planning using a constructive heuristic algorithm

An optimization technique to solve distribution network planning (DNP) problem is presented. This is a very complex mixed binary nonlinear programming problem. A constructive heuristic algorithm (CHA) aimed at obtaining an excellent quality solution for this problem is presented. In each step of the CHA, a sensitivity index is used to add a circuit or a substation to the distribution network. This sensitivity index is obtained solving the DNP problem considering the numbers of circuits and substations to be added as continuous variables (relaxed problem). The relaxed problem is a large and complex nonlinear programming and was solved through an efficient nonlinear optimization solver. A local improvement phase and a branching technique were implemented in the CHA. Results of two tests using a distribution network are presented in the paper in order to show the ability of the proposed algorithm. ©2009 IEEE.

An application of a modified constructive heuristic algorithm to transmission expansion planning

Transmission expansion planning (TEP) is a non-convex optimization problem that can be solved via different heuristic algorithms. A variety of classical as well as heuristic algorithms in literature are addressed to solve TEP problem. In this paper a modified constructive heuristic algorithm (CHA) is proposed for solving such a crucial problem. Most of research papers handle TEP problem by linearization of the non-linear mathematical model while in this research TEP problem is solved via CHA using non-linear model. The proposed methodology is based upon Garver's algorithm capable of applying to a DC model. Simulation studies and tests results on the well known transmission network such as: Garver and IEEE 24-bus systems are carried out to show the significant performance as well as the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. © 2011 IEEE.

A heuristic algorithm based on multi-assignment procedures for nurse scheduling

This paper tackles a Nurse Scheduling Problem which consists of generating work schedules for a set of nurses while considering their shift preferences and other requirements. The objective is to maximize the satisfaction of nurses' preferences and minimize the violation of soft constraints. This paper presents a new deterministic heuristic algorithm, called MAPA (multi-assignment problem-based algorithm), which is based on successive resolutions of the assignment problem. The algorithm has two phases: a constructive phase and an improvement phase. The constructive phase builds a full schedule by solving successive assignment problems, one for each day in the planning period. The improvement phase uses a couple of procedures that re-solve assignment problems to produce a better schedule. Given the deterministic nature of this algorithm, the same schedule is obtained each time that the algorithm is applied to the same problem instance. The performance of MAPA is benchmarked against published results for almost 250,000 instances from the NSPLib dataset. In most cases, particularly on large instances of the problem, the results produced by MAPA are better when compared to best-known solutions from the literature. The experiments reported here also show that the MAPA algorithm finds more feasible solutions compared with other algorithms in the literature, which suggest that this proposed approach is effective and robust. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Implementation of an AC model for transmission expansion planning considering reliability constraints

In this paper, a hybrid heuristic methodology that employs fuzzy logic for solving the AC transmission network expansion planning (AC-TEP) problem is presented. An enhanced constructive heuristic algorithm aimed at obtaining a significant quality solution for such complicated problems considering contingency is proposed. In order to indicate the severity of the contingency, 2 performance indices, namely the line flow performance index and voltage performance index, are calculated. An interior point method is applied as a nonlinear programming solver to handle such nonconvex optimization problems, while the objective function includes the costs of the new transmission lines as well as the real power losses. The performance of the proposed method is examined by applying it to the well-known Garver system for different cases. The simulation studies and result analysis demonstrate that the proposed method provides a promising way to find an optimal plan. Obtaining the best quality solution shows the capability and the viability of the proposed algorithm in AC-TEP. © Tübi̇tak..

Evaluation of hybrid models for static and multistage transmission system planning

Neste trabalho é analisada a aplicação de algoritmos heurísticos para o Modelo Híbrido Linear - Hybrid Linear Model (HLM) - no problema de planejamento da expansão de sistemas de transmissão. O HLM é um modelo relaxado que ainda não foi suficientemente explorado. Assim, é realizada uma análise das características do modelo matemático e das técnicas de solução que podem ser usadas para resolver este tipo de modelo. O trabalho analisa em detalhes um algoritmo heurístico construtivo para o HLM e faz uma extensão da modelagem e da técnica de solução para o planejamento multi-estágio da expansão de sistemas de transmissão. Dentro deste contexto, também é realizada uma avaliação da qualidade das soluções encontradas pelo HLM e as possibilidades de aplicação deste modelo em planejamento de sistemas de transmissão. Finalmente, são apresentados testes com sistemas conhecidos na literatura especializada.

Using traditional heuristic algorithms on an initial genetic algorithm population applied to the transmission expansion planning problem

This paper analyses the impact of choosing good initial populations for genetic algorithms regarding convergence speed and final solution quality. Test problems were taken from complex electricity distribution network expansion planning. Constructive heuristic algorithms were used to generate good initial populations, particularly those used in resolving transmission network expansion planning. The results were compared to those found by a genetic algorithm with random initial populations. The results showed that an efficiently generated initial population led to better solutions being found in less time when applied to low complexity electricity distribution networks and better quality solutions for highly complex networks when compared to a genetic algorithm using random initial populations.

An implementation of modified scatter search algorithm to transmission expansion planning

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)