A non-convex economic load dispatch problem with valve loading effect using a hybrid grey wolf optimizer

Economic load dispatch (ELD) is a crucial problem in the power system which is tackled by distributing the required generation power through a set of units to minimize the fuel cost required. This distribution is subject to two main constraints: (1) equality and inequality related to power balance and power output, respectively. In the optimization context, ELD is formulated as a non-convex, nonlinear, constrained optimization problem which cannot be easily solved using calculus-based techniques. Several optimization algorithms have been adapted. Due to the complexity nature of ELD search space, the theoretical concepts of these optimization algorithms have been modified or hybridized. In this paper, the grey wolf optimizer (GWO) which is a swarm intelligence is hybridized with beta-hill climbing optimizer (beta HC) which is a local search algorithm, to improve convergence properties. GWO is very powerful in a wide search, while beta HC is very powerful in deep search. By combining the wide and deep search ability in a single optimization framework, the balance between the exploration and exploitation is correctly managed. The proposed hybrid algorithm is named beta-GWO which is evaluated using five different test cases of ELD problems: 3 generating units with 850 MW; 13 generating units with 1800 MW; 13 generating units with 2520 MW; 40 generating units with 10,500 MW; and 80 generating units with 21,000 MW.beta-GWO is comparatively measured using 49 comparative methods. The results obtained by beta-GWO outperform others in most test cases. In conclusion, the proposed beta-GWO is proved to be a powerful method for ELD problem or for any other similar problems in the power system domain.