Reactive Power Control of DGs for Distribution Network Voltage Regulation Using Multi-Agent System

Nowadays, with increase the installation of distributed generation (DG) sources in the distribution networks (DNs), the traditional voltage regulation devices with their conventional control abilities face several difficulties to solve the voltage regulation problems. The DG sources that have reactive power capability can greatly help to reduce the stress on the voltage regulation devices in DNs. This paper proposes an effective control strategy for voltage regulation in DNs with high DG penetration based on a multi-agent system (MAS). The proposed strategy is a simple and efficient method for managing the reactive power capability of various types of DG in DNs. The proposed control strategy utilizes voltage/reactive power sensitivity analysis to reduce the overall system voltage deviation. Comprehensive case studies on IEEE 33 test feeders are carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of the control strategy. The numerical results show that the proposed strategy can significantly mitigate the voltage violation problems in a simple manner. (C) 2018, IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.