DOI: 10.4018/IJEOE.2018010102 International Journal of Energy Optimization and Engineering Volume 7 • Issue 1 • January-March 2018 Copyright © 2018, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. 22 Application of Moth Flame Optimization Algorithm for AGC of Multi-Area Interconnected Power Systems Ajit Kumar Barisal, VSS University of Technology, Burla, India Deepak Kumar Lal, Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology, Burla, India ABSTRACT A novel attempt has been made to use Moth Flame Optimization (MFO) algorithm to optimize PI/ PID controller parameters for AGC of power system. Four different power systems are considered in the present article. Initially, a two area thermal power system is considered for simulation. The superiority of the proposed MFO optimized PI/PID controller has been demonstrated by comparing the results with recently published approaches such as conventional, GA, BFOA, DE, PSO, Hybrid BFOA-PSO, FA and GWO algorithm optimized PI/PID controller for the same power system model. Then, a sensitivity analysis is carried out to study the robustness of the system to wide changes in the operating conditions and system parameters from their nominal values. The proposed approach is extended to different realistic multi-area multi-source power systems with diverse sources of power generations for simulation study. The acceptability and efficacy of the proposed technique is demonstrated by comparing with other recently published techniques. KEywORdS Automatic Generation Control, Moth-Flame Optimization Algorithm, Multi-Area Power System, Nature-Inspired Algorithm, Nuclear Power Plant, Sensitivity Analysis, Solar Thermal Power Plant INTROdUCTION An electric power system consists of several areas and interconnected through tie-lines. It consists of several generating units and loads in each area. The generating units operate at a nominal frequency for successful operation. A frequency deviation is a direct result of the imbalance between the electrical power generations with total load demand and associated system losses (Elgerd, 2008; Bervani & Hiyama, 2011; Kothari & Nagrath, 2011). Depending on the diversity of frequency deviation range, in addition to the natural governor response known as the primary control, the supplementary or secondary control and emergency control may also be required to maintain power system frequency (Bervani & Hiyama, 2011). In normal operation, the small frequency deviations can be damped out by the primary control loop. For larger frequency deviations, according to the available amount of power reserve, the secondary control loop i.e. automatic generation control (AGC) is responsible for restoring system frequency to nominal value. However, for a serious imbalance between generated power and