Combined reconfiguration and capacitor placement for distribution system volt/var control through opposition based differential evolution algorithm

Abstract

Power distribution systems must be very effective in power delivery. Utilities are continuously looking for recent technologies to enhance power delivery performance. The control of power loss is one of the most important issues directly related to system efficiency. Distribution system reconfiguration and optimal capacitor placement are the two most popular techniques adapted for the control of power loss. The techniques not only concentrate on power loss control but also control volt/var of the distribution system, and at the same time improve the system reliability and security. Former method is the process of changing the topology of distribution system by altering the open/closed status of switches to find a radial operating structure that minimizes the system real power loss while satisfying operating constraints. Later is the identification of optimal location and size of the capacitors with the objective of minimizing the power loss. This paper combines both reconfiguration and optimal capacitor placement for the effective optimization. Furthermore, it utilizes Opposition based Differential Evolution algorithm for efficient searching for the optimal solution. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated by employing the feeder switching operation scheme to IEEE-33 bus Power Distribution systems. The proposed algorithm reduces the transmission loss and controls volt/var while satisfying power flow constraints.