An exact MILP model for joint switch placement and preventive maintenance scheduling considering incentive regulation

Abstract

Power delivery with high reliability is one of the main objectives of any distribution system. In this regard, system operators are adapting the traditional distribution systems with sectionalized switches and optimal preventive maintenance (PM) scheduling techniques as two effective methods for reliability improvement. However, they suffer due to the lack of a practical model in which switch placement (SP) and PM scheduling problems are considered simultaneously. Furthermore, consideration of incentive regulation schemes, such as reward-penalty scheme (RPS) is highly questionable in the separated reliability improvement problems. In this paper, a mix-integer linear programming model is presented wherein both SP and PM scheduling problems are considered. Rather than using conventional methods for linearization, an exact formulation is proposed to avoid the impact of approximations on the final decision. Moreover, RPS is also regarded as an incentive regulation scheme to balance the reliability level and financial performance. The results of test and real network implementation confirm that a higher performance is reached in terms of reliability and financial issues when the proposed model is utilized compared to the other ones. Besides, analysis demonstrates that the proposed model behaves effectively in both mid and long terms.