Water evaporation algorithm: A new metaheuristic algorithm towards the solution of optimal power flow

Abstract A relatively new technique to solve the optimal power flow (OPF) problem inspired by the evaporation (vaporization) of small quantity water particles from dense surfaces is presented in this paper. IEEE 30 bus and IEEE 118 bus test systems are assessed for various objectives to determine water evaporation algorithm’s (WEA) efficiency in handling the OPF problem after satisfying constraints. Comparative study with other established techniques demonstrate competitiveness of WEA in treating varied objectives. It achieved superior results for all the objectives considered. The algorithm is found to minimize its objective values by great margins even in case of large test system. Statistical analysis of all the cases using Wilcoxon’s signed rank test resulted in p-values much lower than the required value of 0.05, thereby establishing the robustness of the applied technique. Best performance of the algorithm are obtained for voltage deviation minimization and voltage stability index minimization objectives in case of IEEE 30 and IEEE 118 bus test systems respectively.