Voltage and reactive power control in a distribution network considering optimal network configuration and voltage security constraints

Abstract

In order to reduce energy loss and improve voltage stability index in a distribution system, two different approaches, voltage and reactive power control (volt/var control) and distribution network reconfiguration, were proposed and employed. In the present paper, volt/var control and network reconfiguration in a distribution system considering voltage security constraints were modeled as a multi-objective optimization problem. Total electrical energy loss, voltage deviation, and voltage stability were considered as objectives. In addition, a new method for the distribution network reconfiguration was utilized to implement these two problems simultaneously. In this way, the two problems could be solved in a less amount of time. In addition, loads of different nature in each bus were considered in network load modeling. Non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II was used to solve this problem. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method was evaluated by its implementation on the IEEE 33-bus system and a real 77-bus distribution system.