Self‐healing enhancement through co‐deployment of automatic switches and electric vehicle PLs in an electricity distribution network

Abstract

Accomplishing highly reliable distribution grids is more and more important to today's modern society. Along the same line, self-healing is one of the most distinguishing features of the smart grid that could improve the reliability of the system up to a logical extent. In this study, the reliability of the electrical distribution grid has been improved by optimal allocation of automatic switches and parking lots (PLs). Thus, the optimal places of switches and PLs are determined with the purposes of minimising a combined effect of the customer-based (system average interruption duration index) and cost-based [total reliability cost (TRC)] reliability indices. The TRC includes customer interruption costs, PLs and automatic switches investment costs, and the total cost of PLs incorporation in the service restoration process. The proposed approach is implemented in three different planning scenarios: switch placement, PL placement, and joint switch and PL placement. The particle swarm optimisation method is employed to solve optimisation problems. Finally, a standard reliability test system bus number four of the Roy Billinton test system (RBTS 4) is used to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed method.