Optimal allocation of energy storage systems, wind turbines and photovoltaic systems in distribution network considering flicker mitigation

Renewable energies have introduced themselves as efficient resources for power production but their integration into power grid makes some challenges during operation. One of these challenges is the negative impact of wind turbines (WTs) on power quality. Flicker produced by WTs is one of the most important parameters which significantly affects power quality of distribution networks. In this paper, to mitigate flicker produced by WTs, distribution network planning problem is solved by considering power quality issue. For this aim, in the objective function, in addition to power losses and energy storage system (ESS) cost, flicker emission and voltage deviation are also minimized. Due to the complexity of the planning problem, crow search algorithm with differential operator (CSA(d)) is proposed to optimally site and size WTs and ESSs. In CSA(d), new solutions are generated by using the information of high-quality solutions. To investigate the impact of various factors on the network performance, the planning problem is solved at different scenarios: (1) Siting and sizing ESSs, (2) Siting ESSs, WTs and PVs as well as sizing ESSs and (3) Siting ESSs, WTs and PVs as well as sizing ESSs and WTs. Simulation results show that optimal siting and sizing of ESSs and WTs can considerably improve the distribution network parameters in terms of power losses and flicker emission. Moreover, the proposed approach produces more accurate and robust results than the other studied methods.