Binary real coded firefly algorithm for solving unit commitment problem

•Binary real coded firefly (BRCFF) algorithm is implemented for solving UCP.•Mechanisms of firefly communication have been imitated effectively in UCP.•Binary coded FF algorithm finds the ON/OFF status of the generating units.•The real coded FF algorithm is used to solve economic dispatch problem (EDP).•The proposed technique is demonstrated on 3, 12, 17, 26 and 38 unit systems.

This paper presents a new biologically-inspired binary real coded firefly (BRCFF) algorithm to solve the unit commitment problem (UCP) by considering system and generating unit constraints. The firefly (FF) algorithm is inspired by the flashing behavior of fireflies and the phenomenon of bioluminescent communication. Upon solving UCP, the proposed binary coded FF algorithm determines the ON/OFF status of the generating units, while the economic dispatch problem (EDP) is solved using the real coded FF algorithm. The manner of firefly communication through luminescent flashes and their synchronization is imitated and suitably implemented in UCP. An effective constraint handling mechanism is introduced to solve complicated system and unit constraints. Finally, the proposed algorithm is applied to 3, 12, 17, 26, and 38 generating unit systems for a 24 h scheduling horizon and a comparative study is conducted using other recently reported results. Numerical results clarify and verify the significance of the proposed algorithm. The results obtained indicate that the proposed biologically-inspired algorithm could be an important player in swarm-based optimization.