Reliability Improvement of a Radial Distribution System with Recloser Placement

In order to maximize the customer satisfaction as per their demands, there is a need of optimal placement of protective devices so that the maximum possible reliability of the distribution system is achieved. Thus, reliability of a radial distribution can be improved up to some extent by placing a recloser in a suitable feeder section. In this paper, an attempt has been made to determine the optimal location of a recloser in a 13 -bus radial distribution system to maximize the utilities profit by reliability improvement. This has been done by placing the recloser at various feeder sections manually. Different reliability indices such as SAIFI, SAIDI, CAIDI, CAIFI, etc., before and after the recloser placement has been compared which exhibit a considerable improvement in these indices. Thus, maximum profit to the utility can be obtained by placing of a recloser at optimal location with minimum investment and outage costs.