Optimal Allocation of Distributed Generations and Remote Controllable Switches to Improve the Network Performance Considering Operation Strategy of Distributed Generations

This article proposes a new generation worth index for each load level to evaluate whether or not the distributed generation in that load level is worthwhile. The proposed index regards the impact of a distributed generation operation strategy on generation cost and reliability of the network. Based on the proposed generation worth index, the annual optimal operation strategy of distributed generation can also be estimated. Obviously, there is a mutual impact between the optimal operation strategy and the optimal site and size of distributed generations in the network. Hence, in the second part of the article, the proposed generation worth index and annual distributed generation operation strategy are utilized to determine the optimal size and location of distributed generations and the optimal location of remote controllable switches. The generation worth index is calculated to reduce the network energy loss, energy cost, and expected energy not supplied. The annual load is considered to be multilevel, and a genetic algorithm based method is developed for this optimization. Numerical results on a 33-bus distribution test network show the benefits of the proposed approach.