Distributed Generator Sizing for Joint Optimization of Resilience and Voltage Regulation

The vulnerability of electric power distribution systems to extreme weather events calls for added resilience to help withstand and recover from the high impact low probability (HILP) events. The ongoing push to integrate distributed generators (DGs) in power distribution systems can be leveraged to provide resilience to extreme weather events. Optimally located DGs can help recover the critical services in the event of a major disaster by actively forming self-sustained islanded grids (SSIGs). Unfortunately, the increased DG penetration during normal operation can cause power flow reversal and potential over-voltage concerns at the customer locations. In this paper, a novel approach for the optimal sizing of distribution generators is formulated for resilient restoration in a disaster condition and improving the voltage profile in normal operation. Specifically, a mixed-integer linear problem (MILP) is formulated to maximize the critical loads to be picked up while satisfying the operational and connectivity constraints for SSIG formation problem and minimize the voltage deviations during normal operation of the distribution network. Numerical results based on IEEE 123-node test case validates the effectiveness of the proposed approach.