Optimal placement and sizing of DG and shunt capacitor for power loss minimization in an islanded distribution system

Abstract

Active power loss of transmission lines in a distribution system has been a frequent concern for a great number of researchers. Various approaches have been proposed to minimize active power loss. In this research, two approaches, optimal placement and sizing of distributed generation (DG) and shunt capacitor, are used to reduce the active power loss in a distribution system. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Newton-Raphson method are integrated to find the optimal location and size of DG and shunt capacitor while maintaining operation constraints. The proposed technique is tested on a radial distribution system based on Vava’u island’s distribution system in Tonga. The algorithm is implemented in MATLAB and the results are verified with DIgSILENT PowerFactory. Three case scenarios of the optimal placement and sizing, namely: DG only, shunt capacitor only, and DG & shunt capacitor, were tested. The technique successfully found the optimal location and size of DG and shunt capacitor in three case scenarios and further found the most optimal solution among these three cases.