Optimal allocation of multiple capacitors in a hybrid AC/DC microgrid for power quality improvement

Along with the various features for implementing the Hybrid AC/DC Microgrid (HMG), this article proposes an approach for optimal allocation of multiple capacitors which are investigated in a proposed modeling based on the IEEE 14-bus distribution system. The power quality of the HMG has been investigated during the urgent intermittent of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) and Reactive Power Compensation (RPC) methods. Moreover, the investigation has been achieved in the presence of unbalanced loads and nonlinear loads with maximum and minimum demand scenarios. To cope with the power quality concerns in the studied cases, the fixed capacitor bank as an RPC system in Medium Voltage (MV) level load buses has been utilized. Although the performance indices of the power quality improved in MV-level buses, the Low Voltage (LV) level load buses still endure extensive operation performance deteriorations caused by unbalanced loads. Therefore, in this article, a compensation scheme applied in LV-level load buses and MV-level buses has been proposed consistent with the power flow computations. The Multi-Objective Grey Wolf Optimizer (MOGWO) algorithm is implemented to optimize both the size and location of capacitor banks over different voltage levels with high accuracy. The comprehensive assessment and discussion of the simulation results demonstrate the superiority of utilizing the proposed compensation scheme in both MV-level and LV-level load buses. Hence, the power quality is not only enhanced but also the installation cost is reduced. The complete model of the studied system has been validated using MATLAB/ Simulink.Article HighlightsThe reactive power compensation method is used to improve the power quality in a hybrid AC-DC microgrid.The applied RPC method verifies using the MOGWO algorithm to optimize both the location and size of multiple capacitor banks.Power quality challenges and future research trends are debated.