A dynamic programming approach for optimal allocation of maintenance resources on power distribution networks

A relevant research topic in optimization of power distribution networks is to find the best relationship between system reliability and the allocation of maintenance resources. This paper presents a mathematical formulation that seeks the optimal preventive maintenance budget regarding the system reliability constraints. A dynamic programming approach is proposed to deal with this optimization problem. Some reductions are applied to the dynamic programming approach in order to avoid the combinatorial explosion. Case studies are presented to compare the performance of the dynamic programming approach with a hybrid genetic algorithm previously developed.