Multiobjective reconfiguration for loss reduction and service restoration using simulated annealing

This paper presents an approach to the reconfiguration of radial distribution networks, for both loss reduction and service restoration, using the same meta-heuristic tool: the simulated annealing algorithm. Besides the main objective of each problem (minimizing losses or load not supplied) minimization of the total number of switching device operations is also included as a possible criterion. Due to these conflicting goals, the network reconfiguration is a multi-objective optimization problem. The paper shows how to generate efficient solutions for the problem and discusses the associated decision issues. A 52-bus distribution network is used to illustrate the methodology.