A new particle-swarm-based algorithm for distribution system expansion planning including distributed Generation

Distributed Generation (DG) is a new approach in the electricity industry to meet the electrical demand growth in a suitable manner. This paper presents a solution method for the distribution expansion panning problem including DG. The proposed algorithm is based on binary particle swarm optimization. The aim of the model is to find the optimal planning of the expansion to meet the load growth. This optimal cost includes the capital cost, the substation operational cost, feeder upgrade, power losses and the DG's. The proposed model decides the locations and size of the new facilities in the system as well as the amount of the purchased power from the main grid. The results show that the DG's introduce economical and electrical benefits to the system including improved voltage profile, feeders loading and losses.