Optimal reconfiguration and renewable distributed generation allocation in electric distribution systems

Recent studies show that the majority of the researchers have focused on either Distributed Generation (DG) allocation or network reconfiguration for enhancing distribution network performance. However, simultaneous network reconfiguration and DG allocation in the distribution network have been done by very few researchers. The present paper proposes the use of Salp Swarm Algorithm (SSA) for solving network reconfiguration and DG allocation problem. The major objective of the present paper is minimisation of power loss and voltage deviation. The proposed algorithm is based on the salps swarming behavior in oceans when navigating and foraging. To assess the performance of SSA five different scenarios considered are: only reconfiguration, only DG allocation, DG allocation after reconfiguration, reconfiguration after DG allocation and simultaneous reconfiguration and DG allocation. The proposed SSA is tested on 33 and 69 distribution systems. The simulated results illustrate the efficiency of the proposed algorithm when compared to other algorithms.