A general load flow method for distribution systems

This paper proposes a very simple and efficient method of load flow calculation for a general distribution system having mesh network with more than one feeding node. The distribution system is first converted to an equivalent single source network with radial configuration so that the conventional DistFlow branch equations can be used to solve the load flow problem. The network conversion process creates some break points and dummy buses. The characteristics of the original system are preserved by injecting appropriate complex power at the break points in the equivalent system. The injected powers are calculated and updated during the iteration process through a reduced order impedance matrix. The performance of the proposed method was investigated on three different test systems with various modifications. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.