Optimization techniques applied to planning of electric power distribution systems: a bibliographic survey

Optimization models for the solution of planning problems related to power distribution system (PDS) have been studied and used for decades. The main objective is to optimize investments and minimize total costs, including investment and operation costs. Some of the major concerns of the short-term expansion planning carried out by utilities are high energy losses, low power factor, and inadequate voltage magnitudes. A common solution to address these concerns and improve the performance of a PDS is the installation of capacitor banks (CBs) and voltage regulators (VRs). These devices can be installed at many different points along the PDS, leading to so-called optimal CB and VR allocation problems. Another common alternative is the replacement of conductors of feeders, which leads to the problem of optimal selection of conductors. These can be viewed as classical optimization problems regarding the PDS expansion. This paper presents a comprehensive survey of the models and methods used to solve planning problems of PDS expansion, the focus being on classical optimization problems. Furthermore, models including distributed energy resources in a modern power system era are discussed, showing future research possibilities and trends. © 2018, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.