Optimization techniques to improve energy efficiency in power systems

With the 2009/28/EC Directive, the European Union has to guarantee three objectives by 2020: 20% reduction in greenhouse gases emissions, 20% share of renewable energy and 20% improvement of energy efficiency. New technologies and policies applied to power systems can positively influence the overall energy efficiency. The dimensions and complexity of the power system discourage the use of exact optimization techniques and heuristic methods are an effective option to find a rapid, robust and good solution. This paper presents a review of articles with applications of heuristic methods to the transmission and distribution system with the aim of improving energy efficiency. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.