Optimal generator maintenance scheduling using a modified discrete PSO

A modified discrete particle swarm optimisation (MDPSO) algorithm to generate optimal preventive maintenance schedule of generating units for economical and reliable operation of a power system, while satisfying system load demand and crew constraints, is presented. Discrete particle swarm optimisation (DPSO) is known to effectively solve large-scale multi-objective optimisation problems and has been widely applied in power system. The MDPSO proposed for the generator maintenance scheduling optimisation problem generates optimal and feasible solutions and overcomes the limitations of the conventional methods, such as extensive computational effort, which increases exponentially as the size of the problem increases. The efficacy of the proposed algorithm is illustrated and compared with the genetic algorithm (GA) and DPSO in two case studies - a 21-unit test system and a 49-unit system feeding the Nigerian national grid. The MDPSO algorithm is found to generate schedules with comparatively higher system reliability indices than those obtained with GA and DPSO.