Direct search method for solving economic dispatch problem considering transmission capacity constraints

This paper develops an efficient and practical approach for solving the eco nomic dispatch (ED) problem considering transmission capacity constraints. Direct search method (DSM) is chosen to handle a number of inequality and e quality constraints and units with any kind of fuel costs functions. For im proving the performance of direct search procedure, a novel strategy with m ulti-level convergence is incorporated in the DSM to minimize the number of total iterations in the searching process. The validity, robustness, and e ffectiveness of the proposed approach is verified through numberical experi ments for extended economic dispatch application.