Simultaneous Feeder Reconfiguration and Placement of Shunt Capacitors Taking Into Account Voltage-Dependent Loads

Fluctuation of network voltage can alter the load power, and this can be addressed by reconfiguring the network switching sequence and suitable allocation of parallel capacitors which affect the bus voltage level. Even though, there are selected studies that have factored voltage-dependent loads in their network switching and capacitor placement strategies, but in nonlinear modeling or extremely approximated linear methods. While the computation of nonlinear models using metaheuristic algorithms is possible, they do not guarantee an optimal solution, and their implementation in commercial nonlinear solvers leads to strenuous and prolonged computations. Moreover, the linearization of the model results in the extreme approximation of the model into several pieces of linear functions consisting of many unknown variables. To address this, the current study models an useful method for the formulation of voltage-variant loads in a complex hybrid problem of feeder reconfiguration and capacitor allocation, which is possible to be solved by commercial linear solvers. The approach proposed is examined on a generic 16-busbar distribution grid and the outcome demonstrates that the suggested approach is not only effective for reducing active power losses but also improves the system voltage effectively when compared to the conventional reconfiguration and capacitor placement models.