Network reconfiguration with relaxed radiality constraint for increased hosting capacity of distribution systems

Electrical distribution systems are experiencing higher amount of distributed generation (DG), which originates from societal and environmental concerns, economical benefits of local generation, and more deregulated energy systems. While having numerous advantages, the presence of DG in the system is limited by several constraining factors. In this paper, in order to allow for higher hosting capacity of the distribution system, a network reconfiguration scheme is presented to select the best network topology to maximize allowable DG penetration while satisfying steady state voltage and current limits. The network reconfiguration technique relaxes the radiality constraint of the system to search for possible radial and meshed optimal configurations. A modified genetic algorithm has been used to solve the reconfiguration problem. The results of the reconfiguration problem are then presented for a 69 bus test system showing higher hosting capacity for distribution system meshed configurations. Moreover, the results of the proposed network reconfiguration approach are compared with the time-consuming method of repetitive power flow, verifying selection of the optimum configuration by the presented method. As side benefits, voltage profile and real power losses have been shown to improve in such optimum configurations.