A Robust Fractional-Order PID Controller Based Load Frequency Control Using Modified Hunger Games Search Optimizer

In this article, a recent modified meta-heuristic optimizer named the modified hunger games search optimizer (MHGS) is developed to determine the optimal parameters of a fractional-order proportional integral derivative (FOPID) based load frequency controller (LFC). As an interconnected system’s operation requires maintaining the tie-line power and frequency at their described values without permitting deviations in them, an enhanced optimizer is developed to identify the controllers’ parameters efficiently and rapidly. Therefore, the non-uniform mutation operator is proposed to strengthen the diversity of the solutions and discover the search landscape of the basic hunger games search optimizer (HGS), aiming to provide a reliable approach. The considered fitness function is the integral time absolute error (ITAE) comprising the deviations in tie-line power and frequencies. The analysis is implemented in two networks: the 1st network comprises a photovoltaic (PV) plant connected to the thermal plant, and the 2nd network has four connected plants, which are PV, wind turbine (WT), and 2 thermal units with generation rate constraints and governor dead-band. Two different load disturbances are imposed for two studied systems: static and dynamic. The results of the proposed approach of MHGS are compared with the marine predators algorithm (MPA), artificial ecosystem based optimization (AEO), equilibrium optimizer (EO), and Runge–Kutta based optimizer (RUN), as well as movable damped wave algorithm (DMV) results. Moreover, the performance specifications of the time responses of frequencies and tie-line powers’ violations comprising rise time, settling time, minimum/maximum setting values, overshoot, undershoot, and the peak level besides its duration are calculated. The proposed MHGS shows its reliability in providing the most efficient values for the FOPID controllers’ parameters that achieve the lowest fitness of 0.89726 in a rapid decaying. Moreover, the MHGS based system becomes stable the most quickly as it has the shortest settling time and is well constructed as it has the smallest peak, overshoots at early times, and then the system becomes steady. The results confirmed the competence of the proposed MHGS in designing efficient FOPID-LFC controllers that guarantee reliable operation in case of load disturbances.