Integration of DG and Capacitor in Radial Distribution Systems

Abstract

The requirement of reliable energy is increasing day by day. There is a need to set-up new infrastructure like generating stations, new transmission lines and utility to meet the demand. But installation of new infrastructure is very time consuming and costly. Also, more policies are buildup for the liberalization of the electricity market as more companies are emerging to enter the market. In addition, technical advancement in small-scale generation units popularly known as Distributed Generation enhances its role in today‟s market. The integration of Distributed Generation and Capacitors helps to decrease the losses and improves the voltage profile. It also provides grid reinforcement and more reliable supply to the consumer. This dissertation presents an integrated approach for minimization of losses by installation of Distributed Generation and Capacitor unit in Radial Distribution Networks. The placement of an integrated system can provide number of advantages like line loss reduction, enhancement of system stability and voltage profile improvement. Focusing on the complex nature of the radial configuration and constraints, a nature-inspired meta heuristic approach is used. Particle Swarm Optimization is inspired from the social behavior of swarm members for survival in the eco-system. The efficiency of the following method is tested with 15-node and 118-node radial distribution networks. For load flow analysis in radial distribution network backward-forward sweep based method is used in this thesis to emulate the losses under constant power loading condition. A nature inspired swarm based technique Particle Swarm Optimization technique is used to find out the optimal configuration. The sensitivity analysis is carried out using voltage stability index and loss sensitivity factor for finding the optimal location for DG and Capacitor installation. The conclusions are made based upon the obtained results.