Gravitational search algorithm for coordinated design of PSS and TCSC as damping controller

A newly developed heuristic global optimization algorithm, called gravitational search algorithm (GSA), was introduced and applied for simultaneously coordinated designing of power system stabilizer (PSS) and thyristor controlled series capacitor (TCSC) as a damping controller in the multi-machine power system. The coordinated design problem of PSS and TCSC controllers over a wide range of loading conditions is formulated as a multi-objective optimization problem which is the aggregation of two objectives related to damping ratio and damping factor. By minimizing the objective function with oscillation, the characteristics between areas are contained and hence the interactions among the PSS and TCSC controller under transient conditions are modified. For evaluation of effectiveness and robustness of proposed controllers, the performance was tested on a weakly connected power system subjected to different disturbances, loading conditions and system parameter variations. The eigenvalues analysis and nonlinear simulation results demonstrate the high performance of proposed controllers which is able to provide efficient damping of low frequency oscillations.