An efficient crisscross optimization solution to large-scale non-convex economic load dispatch with multiple fuel types and valve-point effects

• A novel CSO method is proposed for ED problem with multiple fuel options.
• CSO solves the ED problem through horizontal crossover and vertical crossover.
• CSO has only one adjusted parameter, namely the vertical crossover probability Pv.
• CSO can overcome the premature convergence and dimensional disaster problem.
• The optimal results are not sensitive to the Pv value when it is set in [0.35, 1].

As one of important optimization problems in power system, economic dispatch (ED) with multiple fuel options is characterized by high non-convexity, non-linearity and discontinuity. The combined action of multiple fuel options and valve-point effects increases the degree of difficulty to solve the ED problem. In this paper, a recently developed heuristic algorithm called crisscross optimization algorithm (CSO) is attempted to address the large-scale and non-convex ED problem with both multiple fuel options and valve-point effects taken into account. The proposed CSO method solves the ED problem through horizontal crossover and vertical crossover. The former searches for the new solutions within a half population of hyper-cubes by adopting a cross-border search approach while the latter provides a unique mechanism to prevent from the premature convergence problems based on the concept of dimensional local minimum. Both operators alternatively generate moderation solutions which are subsequently updated by an elite selection strategy. The proposed method is validated on six test systems consisting of 10–640 generating units and compared with other state-of-the-art methods in the literature. The results show that CSO yields higher quality solutions especially for solving large-scale ED problems with multiple fuel options.