A dynamic method for feeder reconfiguration and capacitor switching in smart distribution systems

In distribution systems, feeder reconfiguration (FR) can lead to loss reduction, reliability improvement and some other economic savings. These advantages can be intensified by proper control and switching of Capacitor Banks (CBs). In this paper, using Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) technique, a novel method is proposed for simultaneous dynamic scheduling of FR and CB switching in the presence of DG units having uncertain and variant generations over time. This method is applicable to both smart and classic distribution systems. While for the latter, state estimation method should be used to estimate the loads at different buses by employing a limited number of measurements. The objective of this method is to minimize the total operational cost of the grid, including the cost of power purchase from the sub transmission substation, cost of customer interruption penalties, Transformers Loss of Life (TLoL) expenses, and the switching costs (CBs and disconnecting switches). To perform this study, the planning period is divided into several intervals for each of them the network topology and CBs reactive power are determined to satisfy the objective function. Additionally, due to the curse of dimensionality, a Case Reduction Technique (CRT) is proposed in order to decrease the computational burden of the proposed method. Finally, the efficiency of the proposed method is verified through its application on the IEEE 118-bus distribution test system, and evaluating its economic and operational characteristics. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.