Multiobjective Particle Swarm Algorithm With Fuzzy Clustering for Electrical Power Dispatch

Economic dispatch is a highly constrained optimization problem encompassing interaction among decision variables. Environmental concerns that arise due to the operation of fossil fuel fired electric generators, transforms the classical problem into multiobjective environmental/economic dispatch (EED). In this paper, a fuzzy clustering-based particle swarm (FCPSO) algorithm has been proposed to solve the highly constrained EED problem involving conflicting objectives. FCPSO uses an external repository to preserve nondominated particles found along the search process. The proposed fuzzy clustering technique, manages the size of the repository within limits without destroying the characteristics of the Pareto front. Niching mechanism has been incorporated to direct the particles towards lesser explored regions of the Pareto front. To avoid entrapment into local optima and enhance the exploratory capability of the particles, a self-adaptive mutation operator has been proposed. In addition, the algorithm incorporates a fuzzy-based feedback mechanism and iteratively uses the information to determine the compromise solution. The algorithm's performance has been examined over the standard IEEE 30 bus six-generator test system, whereby it generated a uniformly distributed Pareto front whose optimality has been authenticated by benchmarking against the epsilon-constraint method. Results also revealed that the proposed approach obtained high-quality solutions and was able to provide a satisfactory compromise solution in almost all the trials, thereby validating the efficacy and applicability of the proposed approach over the real-world multiobjective optimization problems.