Extended flow algorithm for online reconfiguration of large‐scale distribution system with interconnected distributed generators

The interconnection of distributed generators (DGs) in a power system increases the difficulty of managing the system. The minimization of the voltage deviation by network reconfiguration is an important requirement for dealing with the issue. We had previously developed a reconfiguration technique, named the intelligent flow algorithm (IFA), for determining the optimum or suboptimum network configuration within a short computation time. In the present paper, we propose an extension of IFA, named the extended flow algorithm (EFA), for more effective determination of the optimal network configuration of a distribution system containing massive installations of DGs. EFA is a two‐stage method in which the configuration that produces uniform power supply, referred to as the balanced configuration, is first generated, and then used to seek the optimal configuration using an improved branch exchange approach. Accordingly, EFA is more simplified to improve its computation speed on large‐scale systems. The algorithm was tested by case studies of different test distribution systems in the MATLAB environment, and was confirmed to have high performance to cope with DG installations and large‐scale systems. © 2017 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.