Improving Voltage Regulation in Distribution Systems Using PSO-based Optimization in the Presence of Renewable Energy Resources

The effort to combat the climate crisis has increased the integration of renewable energy resources, posing operational challenges. The intermittent nature of renewable generation demands effective mitigation strategies for power quality problems regarding voltage regulation. In this context, Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is being extensively used; however, there is still a need for efficient models to address the challenges of high penetration levels of Distributed Energy Resources (DER). This paper focuses on providing effective voltage regulation in distribution systems with DERs and simultaneously reducing distribution losses, with reduced computational burden. A modification in the PSO algorithm is proposed to update the particle velocities based on the Line Drop Compensation method, enabling control of tap positions of step-voltage regulators in the presence of DERs while minimizing tap changes and losses. The proposed approach reduces computational complexity and addresses local minima in voltage regulation problems when using a PSO.