OPTIMAL COORDINATED VOLTAGE CONTROL OF ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS IN THE PRESENCE OF DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES

Abstract

Recently, distributed generation (DG), as clean and renewable energy, has increased due to the global warming problems and depletion of fossil sources. Several DGs are installed near the end-user, with the feature that this will decrease power losses. However, without optimal control, many problems, such as voltage instability and power losses, may affect the performance and the good operation of the power system. This paper proposes an optimal coordinated voltage control (OCVC) method for the distribution networks with distributed generation sources. The method is based on a genetic algorithm (GA) approach in multi-core simulation with an open-source OpenDSS to obtain the optimal setting of voltage control devices adjusted remotely. This method takes into account time-varying load and generation based on day-ahead scheduling. To validate the performances of the proposed technique, simulations are performed in a distribution network test with DG integration.