Abstract
Teaching–learning-based optimization has the disadvantages of weak population diversity and the tendency to fall into local optima, especially for multimodal and high-dimensional problems such as the optimal reactive power dispatch problem. To overcome these shortcomings, first, in this study, a new enhanced TLBO is proposed through novel and effective θ-self-adaptive teaching and learning to optimize voltage and active loss management in power networks, which is called the optimal reactive power control problem with continuous and discontinuous control variables. Voltage and active loss management in any energy network can be optimized by finding the optimal control parameters, including generator voltage, shunt power compensators, and the tap positions of tap changers, among others. As a result, an efficient and powerful optimization algorithm is required to handle this challenging situation. The proposed algorithms utilized in this research were improved by introducing new mutation operators for multi-objective optimal reactive power control in popular standard IEEE 30-bus and IEEE 57-bus networks. The numerical simulation data reveal potential high-quality solutions with better performance and accuracy using the proposed optimization algorithms in comparison with the basic teaching–learning-based optimization algorithm and previously reported results.