Optimal Reactive Power Dispatch for Loss Reduction in Power Systems using Improved Walrus Optimizer (IWO)

This paper explores the Optimal Reactive Power Dispatch (ORPD) problem in electrical systems, aiming to minimize power losses and enhance voltage profiles to improve overall power delivery efficiency. The approach introduced here consists of the Improved Walrus Optimizer (IWO), which is an upgraded version of the original Walrus Optimizer (WO). The method employs an exponential decay factor for fast convergence and to handle the difficulty of the high-dimensional problems. the IWO-based ORPD model is implemented and its performance evaluated over the IEEE 30-bus system with power loss minimization mean and voltage profile optimization as primary objective. To evaluate the optimization ability, the performance of the IWO was compared to some established optimization algorithms, Movable Damped Wave Algorithm (MDWA), Salp Swarm Algorithm (SSA), Moth Flame Optimization (MFO), Grasshopper Optimization Algorithm (GOA), Slime Mold Algorithm (SMA), Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO), Bat Algorithm (BA), and Student Psychology-Based Optimization (SPBO), based on their previously obtained results on the ORPD. The experimental findings indicate that IWO consistently outperforms these techniques, achieving 16.159pu power loss reduction and significant voltage profile enhancement for the test system, thereby demonstrating its potential as a leading optimization tool for contemporary power systems.