Electrical Engineering
ABC algorithm based optimal sizing and placement of DGs in distribution networks considering multiple objectives

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open access

Abstract

In recent years, due to increase in load demand, distribution networks have got substantial attention to get optimized. It is significant to optimally place the distributed generators (DGs) in distribution networks to minimize power losses and voltage drops. However, the DGs incur certain investment and operational costs, and their placement is only viable if these costs overcome energy losses. Therefore, current paper investigates the optimal sizing and placement of DGs in distribution networks with a novel concept to simultaneously minimize total energy cost along with total power loss and average voltage drop. Artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm is proposed to solve the considered multi-objective problem. The performance of the proposed ABC algorithm is tested with standard algorithms. Newton Raphson load flow (NRLF) analysis is conducted on IEEE 33 and 69-bus radial networks and on CIGRE medium voltage (MV) benchmark grid. Two test cases have been formed and investigated. The results prove that proposed ABC algorithm mostly outperforms other algorithms.

Keywords

Distributed generation (DG)
Newton Raphson Load flow (NRLF) analysis
Optimal sizing and placement of DGs
Line loss
Voltage drop
Artificial bee colony algorithm

Dr. Essam A. Al-Ammar (SM) worked as a Power/Software Engineer at Lucent Technologies in Riyadh for two years. In 2003, he received his MS degree from University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, and Ph.D. degree from Arizona State University in 2007. He is an Associate Professor in Electrical Engineering Department, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He was Governor’s Advisor in Electricity Co-Generation Regulatory Authority (ECRA). Also, he was an advisor at Ministry of Water and Electricity (MOWE) and a former Energy Consultant for Riyadh Techno Valley (RTV). He involved in many local and international committees in different aspects in the area of power and electrical energy. His current interests include high voltage engineering, power system transmission and distribution as well as renewable energy and smart grid. He is a Senior Member of IEEE since 2007 and Saudi Engineering Committee since 1997. He published nearly 110 papers and 20 patents in Energy and Water.

Ms. Kiran Farzana is an Electrical Engineer by profession. She did her master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Bahria University Islamabad Pakistan. Her research interests include optimization of distribution systems and microgrids

Dr. Asad Waqar received his Electrical Engineering degree from UET Taxila in 2002. He did his master’s degree in Electrical Power Engineering from RWTH Aachen Germany in 2011 and PhD degree in Electrical Engineering from Huazhong University of Science and Technology China in 2016. Currently he is working as Associate Professor in department of Electrical Engineering at Bahria University Islamabad, Pakistan. His research interests include smart grids, microgrids operation and control, power quality, power electronics and network reinforcement planning.

Dr. Muhammad Aamir is working as Assistant Professor in department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at PAF-IAST Haripur Pakistan. He did his PhD degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Malaya Malaysia in 2017. His research interests include power electronics, power systems and smart grids.

Dr. Saifullah is working as Assistant Professor in department of Industrial Engineering at University of Engineering and Technology Taxila, Pakistan. He did his PhD degree in Electrical Engineering from Huazhong University of Science and Technology China in 2015. His research interests include application of heuristic methods to real time problems.

Dr. Azhar Ul Haq has been working as an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering at National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad since Oct 2016. He worked as a as a Research Assistant with ECE Department of University of Waterloo, Canada for year 2015. He holds Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering obtained under the joint Research Doctoral Program of University of L'Aquila, Italy and University of Waterloo, Canada. His research interests include grid integration of renewable energies, PV powered smart charging of electric vehicles; and direct load control strategies for peak-shaving in power system.

Dr. Muhammad Zahid is working as Assistant Professor in department of Electrical Engineering at Riphah International University Lahore, Pakistan. He did his PhD degree in Electrical Engineering from Huazhong University of Science and Technology China in 2018. His research interests include microgrids operation and control, FACTS and planning of distribution systems.

Ms. Memoona Batool is an Electrical Engineer by profession. She did her master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Bahria University Islamabad Pakistan. Her research interests include optimization of distribution systems, microgrids and DSM.

Peer review under responsibility of Ain Shams University.

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© 2020 THE AUTHORS. Published by Elsevier BV on behalf of Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University.