Optimal reconfiguration of balanced and unbalanced distribution systems using firefly algorithm

Abstract

Abstract With increasing demand in energy, efficiency, reliability, and resiliency in the power systems, integration of distributed generation (DG) or renewable energy sources in the local distribution system is trending nowadays. The power system optimization in distribution networks plays a prominent role in planning reliable supply to the users. This paper presents a meta-heuristic approach to improve the system performance by considering: a) voltage profile improvement, b) minimize the active power loss, and c) overall operation cost as the objective functions of the distribution system reconfiguration (DSR). Modified Newton Raphson (MNR) is used for a load flow analysis of the 33 bus balanced test system and 25 bus unbalanced distribution system. To study the performance of the system objective functions, three different scenarios are considered: i) with DG integrated, ii) with DSR performed, and iii) DG placed along with DSR. These scenarios are compared with the base system configuration parameters along with convergence comparison of harmony search algorithm (HAS) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) with firefly algorithm (FFA) of the distribution systems.