In the paper, a combined strategy of moth–flame optimization (MFO) algorithm and fuzzy logic controller (FLC) for incipient fault diagnosis of the synchronous generator is proposed. The motivation behind the proposed topology is to analyse the beginning issues exhibited by an asynchronous generator under different situations like healthy and unhealthy conditions. Initially, a synchronous generator is assessed in the ordinary condition and from that point onwards, fault is made in the synchronous generator and the framework practices are checked and signals are measured which can be viewed as mis-shaped waveforms. For the collection of data-set from the input current signal, MFO is presented which extracts the signal and structures the possible data-sets. In light of the fulfilled data-set, the FLC performs and diagnoses the kind of fault that has happened in the stator winding of the synchronous generator. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method, the incipient faults are analysed. The proposed technique is implemented in MATLAB/Simulink platform and this is approved utilizing execution measures, for example, accuracy, precision, recall, and specificity. Likewise, the proposed method is analysed with factual measures, for example, the root mean square error, mean absolute percentage error, mean bias error, and consumption time; and the execution is evaluated by utilizing the examination at various strategies like artificial neural network, fuzzy, and adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]