Optimal Placement of Capacitor and Sizing in a Radial Distribution Network to Reduce Real Power Losses

Electricity distribution constitutes the concluding stage in the delivery of electricity to the consumers. This distribution network transports electricity from the transmission system and delivers it to the consumers. The distribution network includes medium-voltage power lines, substations and pole-mounted distribution transformers, open and close switches, low-voltage distribution wiring and measuring meters. Distribution circuits are fed from a transformer located in an electrical substation, where the voltage is reduced from the high values used for power transmission. A radial distribution network leaves the station and passes through the network area with no normal connection to any other supply. In this paper, identification of the ideal spots to place the capacitors in the radial distribution network and the kVAr rating (Size) of those capacitors is done. This is done to reduce the Annual cost incurred due to I2R loss in the system and for installing capacitor bank. This project aims to achieve the same by gaining the advantage of applying one of the Artificial Intelligence techniques called genetic algorithm based on real coding and binary coding. The effectiveness of this proposed method was tested on an IEEE 34-bus test utility system and the results were compared with the available literatures.