Optimal Capacitor Allocation in Distribution System Using Particle Swarm Optimization

Capacitor installation is one of the most commonly used methods for reactive power compensation in the distribution networks. In this paper, the optimum capacitor placement and its sizing has been applied in the distribution network in terms of power losses minimization and voltage profile improvement. The maximum and minimum bus voltage and the maximum possible capacitor size are the constraints of optimum capacitor placement and sizing problem. There are considered as the penalty factor in the objective function. In order to evaluate the obtained objective function, the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is utilized to find the best possible capacitor placement and capacity. The OpenDSS software has then been utilized to solve the power flow through Matlab coding interface. To validate the functionality of the proposed method, the IEEE 13-bus test system is implemented and the obtained results have been compared with the IEEE standard case without capacitor compensation. The results show that the proposed algorithm is more cost effective and has lower power losses as compared to the IEEE standard case. In addition, the voltage profile has been improved, accordingly.