This paper presents a formulation of the optimal steady-state load she
dding problem that uses the sum of the squares of the difference betwe
en the connected active and reactive load and the supplied active and
reactive power. The latter are treated as dependent variables modelled
as functions of bus voltages only. The equality constraints associate
d with the power system load curtailment problem are the power flow eq
uations in polar form utilizing the nodal admittance matrix approach.
The inequality constraints are characterized by limits on line flows,
voltage magnitudes and angles, and active and reactive power generatio
ns. The MINOS nonlinear optimization package is used to implement the
optimization process. Testing is done using IEEE 14- and 30-bus power
systems, and results obtained. The optimal results are compared with r
esults obtained using two earlier approaches. The results obtained usi
ng the proposed approach appear to give a better optimal state of the
power system.