Mathematical Problems in Engineering
Volume 2010 (2010), Article ID 906935, 11 pages
doi:10.1155/2010/906935
Research Article

Ant Colony Search Algorithm for Optimal Generators Startup during Power System Restoration

A. Ketabi1 and R. Feuillet2

1Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Kashan, Kashan 87317-51167, Iran
2Laboratoire d'Electrotechnique de Grenoble, INPG/ENSIEG, 38402 Saint Martin d'Hères Cedex, France

Received 16 September 2009; Revised 7 December 2009; Accepted 14 January 2010

Academic Editor: Jihuan He

Copyright © 2010 A. Ketabi and R. Feuillet. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Generators startup sequence plays a significant role in achieving a suitable and effective restoration strategy. This paper outlines an ant colony search algorithm in order to determine the generator starting times during the bulk power system restoration. The algorithm attempts to maximize the system generation capability over a restoration period, where the dynamic characteristics of different types of units and system constraints are considered. Applying this method for the 39-bus New England test system, and comparing the results with backtracking-search and P/t methods, it is found that proposed algorithm improved generation capability.