Improved gravitational search algorithm for loadability enhancement of transmission lines using UPFC

In competitive electricity market, transmission system need to handle increased power transfers due to presence of large number of players. This increased volume of traffic causes network congestion in some of the lines. If the congestion is not relieved, line outage may take place. In order to improve system load ability and remove network congestion, UPFC can act as a tool for line loadability enhancement. The proposed method uses improved gravitational search algorithm to analyse maximum power transfer capability of UPFC. This is tested on IEEE-57 bus system on MATLAB platform. The location of UPFC is determined by real power variation of the system and maximum power transfer capability is evaluated. The performance of improved gravitational search algorithm is compared with traditional gravity search algorithm. © 2013 The Society for Reliability Engineering, Quality and Operations Management (SREQOM), India and The Division of Operation and Maintenance, Lulea University of Technology, Sweden.