Reliability evaluation of active distribution networks based on scenario reduction method using PSO algorithm

The challenges of active distribution networks (ADNs) have received a great deal of attention due to the increase in the penetration of distributed generations (DGs). The uncertainties of renewable DGs adversely affect the ADNs performance; thus, reliability evaluation of ADNs considering uncertainties is important. The analytical and Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) methods are used for studying the uncertainties, while MCS is more popular than analytical methods. The main challenge of the MCS method is its computation time. In this paper, a new scenario-based reliability evaluation method using particle swarm optimization (PSO) clustering algorithm is proposed, which can significantly reduce the computation time of reliability evaluation in comparison with MCS. Also, the optimal number of clusters is obtained in the introduced method. Test results of applying the introduced method to the real 20 kV distribution network of the Barzok region of Kashan in Iran illustrate its effectiveness and advantages.