Reconfiguration and Capacitor Placement of Radial Distribution Systems by Modified Flower Pollination Algorithm

Abstract

This article proposes a combined methodology for network reconfiguration and optimal placement of shunt capacitors in radial distribution systems to reduce real power loss and enhance bus voltages. The power loss is reduced by network reconfiguration and capacitor placement, which in turn reduces a utility's loss of revenue. To ensure radial structure and avoid islanding of nodes, feasible tie-switch combinations are formed prior to the optimization process using a graph theory based method. The modified flower pollination algorithm uses a flower pollination process, an improved local neighborhood search method, and a dynamic switching probability approach to enhance the global search for optimization. The performance of this approach is tested on standard 33-bus, 69-bus, and 118-bus radial distribution test feeders. Results have been compared with previous methods reported in the literature, indicating the effectiveness of the combinatorial approach in terms of loss reduction, voltage enhancement, and cost saving.