Monarch Butterfly Optimization-Based Computational Methodology for Unit Commitment Problem.

—This paper provides a computational methodology based on monarch butterfly optimization (MBO) to find a solution to the problem of cost-based unit commitment (CBUC). The binary variables of unit commitment problems are handled by modifying the continuous-time nature of the monarch butterfly algorithm. Thermal unit generation, uptime, downtime, ramp rate limits as well as system reserve are considered in the test systems. The computational approach has many parts that not only minimize the cost function but also handle the mixed constraints of the commitment problem. The effect of thermal turbine valve-point loading is also taken into consideration. The computational technique has been used to solve a ten-unit original system and five scaled-up adaptations obtained from this base system. The results obtained are in agreement with the recent results available in the literature. Comparative analysis shows the effectiveness of the proposed MBO-based solution methodology in terms of operating costs and execution time in relation to other techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]