Budgetary and Redundancy Optimization of Heterogeneous Series-Parallel Power Systems under Availability Constraints

This paper intends to resolve a redundancy optimization problem (ROP) using a recent bio-inspired metaheuristic which is Bat Algorithm (BA). The problem consists on selecting the appropriate components from a power system so to minimize investment cost. The selection must also satisfy a required reliability constraint. The optimization of multi-state series–parallel power system subject to this kind of common cause failures can be formulated into a nonlinear mathematic model. The series-parallel electrical availability system measurement leads into extensive computational process, which can slows down the optimization algorithm. That why, a commonly employed Universal Generation Function (UGF) is implemented. Experimental results on illustrative example show how Bat algorithm can yields to the optimal design and gives good results in an insignificant processing time.