Dynamically Reconfigurable Active Distribution Networks for Maximum Renewables Integration at the Presence of Voltage-Dependent Loads

Considering the technical, economic, and environmental benefits of renewable distributed generators (DGs), today we are witnessing penetration of these DGs in active distribution networks. In this way, one of the concerns of the network operators is the changes in the output power of wind and photovoltaic (PV) units and the mismatch of their generation pattern with the network load curve, which leads to voltage and congestion problems in the network. This issue may cause these units not be dispatched with their maximum capacity such that some part of the available power is curtailed. In this paper, in order to improve the operation of distribution network and increase the utilization of renewable units, an optimization model based on the dynamic reconfiguration in the presence of voltage-dependent loads is presented. The mentioned problem is modeled as a mixed-integer non-linear programming (MINLP) and implemented in the GAMS environment. The effectiveness of the proposed method is investigated by applying it on the IEEE 33-bus network through various experiments. The results show the improvement of the desired indicator of the network operator.