An MISOCP-Based Solution Approach to the Reactive Optimal Power Flow Problem

In this letter, we present an alternative mixed-integer non-linear programming formulation of the reactive optimal power flow (ROPF) problem. We utilize a mixed-integer second-order cone programming (MISOCP) based approach to find global optimal solutions of the proposed ROPF problem formulation. We strengthen the MISOCP relaxation via the addition of convex envelopes and cutting planes. Computational experiments on challenging test cases show that the MISOCP-based approach yields promising results compared to a semidefinite programming based approach from the literature.

Automated summary

In this letter, an alternative mixed-integer non-linear programming formulation of the reactive optimal power flow (ROPF) problem is proposed, utilizing a mixed-integer second-order cone programming (MISOCP) based approach to find global optimal solutions. The MISOCP relaxation is improved using convex envelopes and cutting planes, showing promising results in computational experiments on challenging test cases compared to a semidefinite programming based approach from the literature.