A review on applications of heuristic optimization algorithms for optimal power flow in modern power systems

Optimal power flow (OPF) is one of the key tools for optimal operation and planning of modern power systems. Due to the high complexity with continuous and discrete control variables, modern heuristic optimization algorithms (HOAs) have been widely employed for the solution of OPF. This paper provides an overview of the latest applications of advanced HOAs in OPF problems. The most frequently applied HOAs for solving the OPF problem in recent years are covered and briefly introduced, including genetic algorithm (GA), differential evolution (DE), particle swarm optimization (PSO), and evolutionary programming (EP), etc.