Coordinated Distributed Generation and UPQC Optimal Placement for Voltage Profile Improvement and Loss Reduction

Abstract

The high ratio of resistance to reactance in the distribution network and the growing penetration of nonlinear and distributed loads are prone to high power losses and voltage instability in distribution networks. Thus, traditional methods of voltage regulation have limited performance due to discrete control, slow response, and relatively poor reactive power support provided by series voltage regulators and shunt capacitors. The emergence of D-FACTS devices seems to be a strong solution to enhance the power quality and operation efficiency of the system. This paper studies the problem of optimal placement of DG and UPQC to minimize real and reactive power losses while enhancing the voltage profiles in radial distribution systems. The UPQC can provide simultaneous series and shunt compensations to mitigate voltage disturbances, suppress current harmonics, and regulate reactive power. The backward–forward sweep algorithm is performed for load flow study. The genetic algorithm provides sub-optimal locations to commence the particle swarm optimization to find the optimal placement of DG and UPQC. The efficacy of the proposed method is tested on a 30-bus distribution system implemented in MATLAB. The improvement in voltage profile, power quality, and overall system efficiency is confirmed.