Reliability Constrained Distribution Feeder Reconfiguration for Power Loss Minimization

This paper presents a path-based mixed integer quadratic programming (MIQP) formulation of distribution feeder reconfiguration (DFR) for loss minimization and reliability enhancement. Analytical expressions for standard reliability indices like SAIFI and EDNS are obtained by adopting standard assumptions regarding component failures. A path-based modeling framework is adopted to allow for easy evaluation of the reliability indices. The proposed path-to-branch incidence matrix results in linear expressions for the reliability indices and power flow equations. These linear models are suitably deployed in a flexible DFR optimization framework wherein reliability can feature in either via objectives or constraints. The proposed MIQP formulations are applied to different test systems to optimize network losses or reliability or both. Numerical results showcase the wide range of capabilities of the proposed formulations.