Dragonfly Algorithm for Optimal Allocation of D-STATCOM in Distribution Systems

In distribution systems, parameters like outage of components, sudden or continuous load growth may cause power quality problems like excessive power losses, voltage instabilities, etc. To compensate power quality problems, usage of custom power devices is most effective approach. To get the best performance, custom power devices must place in optimal locations. Hence, this paper proposes a new swarm intelligence-based dragonfly algorithm (DA) to determine optimal placement of D-STATCOM in the radial distribution systems. DA algorithm is inspired by unique and rare swarming behaviors of dragonflies in nature. Power losses minimization and voltage profile improvement are considered as main objectives for solving optimization problems. The proposed DA model is compared with conventional methods like genetic (GA) and PSO in terms of convergence and cost analysis.