Enhancement of loading capacity of distribution system through distributed generator placement considering techno-economic benefits with load growth

•Problem of load growth and its effect on distribution system performance parameter is addressed.•Distributed generators are placed at multiple nodes optimally.•Techno-economic benefits are studied.•Improvement in distribution system performance parameter is reported. Load growth in a system is a natural phenomenon. With the increase in load demand, system power loss and voltage drop increases. Distributed generators (DGs) are one of the best solutions to cope up with the load growth if they are allocated appropriately in the distribution system. In this work, optimal size and location of multiple DGs are found to cater the incremental load on the system and minimization of power loss without violating system constraints. For this a predetermined annual load growth up to five years is considered with voltage regulation as a constraint. The particle swarm optimization with constriction factor approach is applied to determine the optimum size and location with multiple DGs. To see the effect of load growth on system, 33-node IEEE standard test case is considered. It is observed that with the penetration of multiple number of DGs in distribution system, there is great improvement in several distribution system parameters. Moreover, the loading capacity of distribution system is enhanced through DG placement and its techno-economic benefits are also established.