Balance-Swap Optimization of Economic Load Dispatch Problem using Quadratic Fuel Cost Function

In this paper, I devise a balance-swap optimization (BSO) algorithm to solve economic load dispatch with a quadratic fuel cost function. This algorithm firstly sets initial values to , and subsequently entails two major processes: a balance process whereby a generator’s power of , is balanced by until ; and a swap process whereby is set at . When applied to 15, 20, and 38-generators benchmark data, this simple algorithm has proven to consistently yield the best possible results. Moreover, this algorithm has dramatically reduced the costs for a centralized operation of 73-generators ? a sum of the three benchmark cases ? which could otherwise have been impossible for independent operations.