Dynamic load frequency control in Power systems using a hybrid simulated annealing based Quadratic Interpolation Optimizer

Abstract Ensuring the stability and reliability of modern power systems is increasingly challenging due to the growing integration of renewable energy sources and the dynamic nature of load demands. Traditional proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controllers, while widely used, often fall short in effectively managing these complexities. This paper introduces a novel approach to load frequency control (LFC) by proposing a filtered PID (PID-F) controller optimized through a hybrid simulated annealing based quadratic interpolation optimizer (hSA-QIO). The hSA-QIO uniquely combines the local search capabilities of simulated annealing (SA) with the global optimization strengths of the quadratic interpolation optimizer (QIO), providing a robust and efficient solution for LFC challenges. The key contributions of this study include the development and application of the hSA-QIO, which significantly enhances the performance of the PID-F controller. The proposed hSA-QIO was evaluated on unimodal, multimodal, and low-dimensional benchmark functions, to demonstrate its robustness and effectiveness across diverse optimization scenarios. The results showed significant improvements in solution quality compared to the original QIO, with lower objective function values and faster convergence. Applied to a two-area interconnected power system with hybrid photovoltaic-thermal power generation, the hSA-QIO-tuned controller achieved a substantial reduction in the integral of time-weighted absolute error by 23.4%, from 1.1396 to 0.87412. Additionally, the controller reduced the settling time for frequency deviations in Area 1 by 9.9%, from 1.0574 s to 0.96191 s, and decreased the overshoot by 8.8%. In Area 2, the settling time was improved to 0.89209 s, with a reduction in overshoot by 4.8%. The controller also demonstrated superior tie-line power regulation, achieving immediate response with minimal overshoot.