Reconfiguration and Capacitor Placement Using Opposition Based Differential Evolution Algorithm in Power Distribution System

Abstract

Distribution system is a critical link between customer and utility. The control of power loss is the main factor which decides the performance of the distribution system. There are two methods such as (i) distribution system reconfiguration and (ii) inclusion of capacitor banks, used for controlling the real power loss. Distribution system reconfiguration helps to operate the system at minimum cost and at the same time improves the system reliability and security. Under normal operating conditions, optimization of network configuration is the process of changing the topology of distribution system by altering the open/closed status of switches to find a radial operating structure that minimizes the system real power loss while satisfying operating constraints.Considering the improvement in voltage profile with the power loss reduction, later method produces better performance than former method. This paper presents an advanced evolutionary algorithm for capacitor inclusion for loss reduction. The conventional sensitivity analysis is used to find the optimal location for the capacitors. In order to achieve a better approximation for the current candidate solution, Opposition based Differential Evolution (ODE) is introduced. The effectiveness of the proposed technique is validated through IEEE-33 bus Power Distribution systems.