Feeder reconfiguration scheme with integration of renewable energy sources using a Particle Swarm Optimisation method

Abstract

A smart grid is an intelligent power delivery system integrating traditional and advanced control, monitoring, and protection systems for enhanced reliability, improved efficiency, and quality of supply. To achieve a smart grid, technical challenges such as voltage instability; power loss; and unscheduled power interruptions should be mitigated. Therefore, future smart grids will require intelligent solutions at transmission and distribution levels, and optimal placement & sizing of grid components for optimal steady state and dynamic operation of the power systems. At distribution levels, feeder reconfiguration and Distributed Generation (DG) can be used to improve the distribution network performance. Feeder reconfiguration consists of readjusting the topology of the primary distribution network by remote control of the tie and sectionalizing switches under normal and abnormal conditions. Its main applications include service restoration after a power outage, load balancing by relieving overloads from some feeders to adjacent feeders, and power loss minimisation for better efficiency. On the other hand, the DG placement problem entails finding the optimal location and size of the DG for integration in a distribution network to boost the network performance. This research aims to develop Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithms to solve the distribution network feeder reconfiguration and DG placement & sizing problems. Initially, the feeder reconfiguration problem is treated as a single-objective optimisation problem (real power loss minimisation) and then converted into a multi-objective optimisation problem (real power loss minimisation and load balancing). Similarly, the DG placement problem is treated as a single-objective problem (real power loss minimisation) and then converted into a multi-objective optimisation problem (real power loss minimisation, voltage deviation minimisation, Voltage stability Index maximisation). The developed PSO algorithms are implemented and tested for the 16-bus, the 33-bus, and the 69-bus IEEE distribution systems. Additionally, a parallel computing method is developed to study the operation of a distribution network with a feeder reconfiguration scheme under dynamic loading conditions.