Determining of annual distribution feeder configuration using load curves clustering

The power that flow in distribution feeders is the sum of commercial, industrial and residential loads, so it has a time varying characteristic. The switching operation problem in distribution systems is to find the optimal switching time and the optimal candidates so that operation costs become minimized. In this paper a novel method is proposed to determine annual feeder reconfiguration scheduling based on load profile. In this method the concept of load curves clustering has been used to cluster the annual load curves into several time intervals. Clustering is done based on size and shape of daily load curve. Using a harmony search algorithm (HSA), optimal configuration of each interval is obtained to minimize objective function consist of energy losses and network reliability costs. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed method and its capability to find the optimal solution.