Smart Metering based Approaches to Solve the Load Phase Balancing Problem in Low Voltage Distribution Networks

Energy savings represent an important issue both for Distribution Networks Operators (DNOs) and final consumers. For each DNOs, while efficiency can be achieved by replacing old with newer devices, or by updating into the existing configuration another equipment. One of these problems can be solved using the Phase Load Balancing (PLB). This paper proposes a particular approach regarding the aforementioned problem. Then, the PLB problem was solved with the help of two approaches based on the heuristic and PSO algorithms, which use the data provided by Smart Meters. Both algorithms for PLB optimization problem were tested on a real low voltage (LV) electricity distribution network (EDN), and the results, quantified in electricity savings though loss reduction, proving their efficiency.