A fast solution technique for large scale unit commitment problem using genetic algorithm

This paper presents a new approach for the large scale unit commitment problem. The unit commitment (UC) problem plays a major role in the power system since the improvement of commitment schedule results in the reduction of operating cost. However, the unit commitment problem is one of the most difficult optimization problems in the power system, because this problem has many constraints. Moreover search space is vast. To overcome these problems, a new genetic operator based on unit characteristic classification and unit integration technique are proposed. The proposed algorithm was tested on a reported UC problem. From simulation results, better solutions are obtained in comparison with previously reported results. Numerical results for a system up to 100 units are compared to previously reported results.