Higher load growth in the distribution system and its consequences on higher voltage deviation, feeders overloading, and distribution system loss increase have a bad effect on system quality. Global warming and the dwindling supply of fossil fuels also make it imperative to search for more effective alternatives that guarantee appropriate operating level of power losses and voltage profile at different points of the distribution networks. Capacitor banks (CBs), renewable distributed generators (DGs), and automatic voltage regulators (AVRs) can be considered the most suitable enhancement devices for distribution systems that reduce both pollution and power losses, improving the voltage profile, ..., etc, if they are optimally sized and sited. The objective of this paper is to investigate the optimal placement of each of the 3 mentioned solutions (CBs, DGs, and AVRs) on a part of real Egyptian distribution system. This system is an old, long, weak, and heavily loaded distribution system with high power losses (about 29% of system loading) and poor voltage regulation (about 30%). Each introduced solution has been evaluated according to power loss minimization and investment cost minimization. A new modification to the backward-forward power flow method for radial distribution system embedded AVRs has been proposed, which facilitates the placement procedure of AVRs and reduces computation time as compared to other methods. In this paper, an optimal placement of the combined CBs, DGs, and AVRs has also been introduced based on integrated particle swarm optimization technique and rough set theory. The proposed approach aims to minimize the problem complexity and reduce the storage capacity required for the optimization problem.

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Simultaneous control and operation of Capacitor Banks (CBs) and Distributed Generators (DGs) with Distribution Network Reconfiguration (DNR) is the most important modern trend for distribution systems performance enhancement. The complexity and variety of the control variables of this problem represent a challenge for distribution systems planners and operators as well as interested researchers. Optimal solution can provides quantitative as well as qualitative power service to satisfy consumers' satisfaction and reduces dissipated energy. Furthermore, performance enhancement of distribution systems is very vital where improving their performance directly affects the performance of transmission and generation systems. For solving the considered problem, an improved Tunicate Swarm Algorithm (ITSA), which imitates the swarming behaviors of the marine tunicates and their jet propulsions during its navigation and foraging procedure, is proposed. In ITSA, Lévy flight distributions are emerged in the traditional Tunicate Swarm Algorithm (TSA), which improves the diversification searching abilities of the TSA and consequently avoids the stagnation possibilities. The proposed ITSA is applied and tested for optimal DNR simultaneously with optimal control of the switched CBs and dispatchable DGs taking into account daily load variations. The ITSA is compared with other techniques on the standard 33-bus, 69-bus and the large-scale 119-bus distribution systems considering different automation scenarios of the distribution systems. The simulation results reveal that significant enhancement in distribution system performance is obtained through the application of the proposed automation process using the ITSA. ITSA can efficiently search for the optimal solutions of the problem and outperforms the other existing algorithms in the literatures.

The extraction of parameters of solar photovoltaic generating systems is a difficult problem because of the complex nonlinear variables of current-voltage and power-voltage. In this article, a new implementation of the Gorilla Troops Optimization (GTO) technique for parameter extraction of several PV models is created. GTO is inspired by gorilla group activities in which numerous strategies are imitated, including migration to an unknown area, moving to other gorillas, migration in the direction of a defined site, following the silverback, and competition for adult females. With numerical analyses of the Kyocera KC200GT PV and STM6-40/36 PV modules for the Single Diode (SD) and Double-Diode (DD), the validity of GTO is illustrated. Furthermore, the developed GTO is compared with the outcomes of recent algorithms in 2020, which are Forensic-Based Investigation Optimizer, Equilibrium Optimizer, Jellyfish Search Optimizer, HEAP Optimizer, Marine Predator Algorithm, and an upgraded MPA. GTO’s efficacy and superiority are expressed by calculating the standard deviations of the fitness values, which indicates that the SD and DD models are smaller than 1E−16, and 1E−6, respectively. In addition, validation of GTO for the KC200GT module is demonstrated with diverse irradiations and temperatures where great closeness between the emulated and experimental P-V and I-V curves is achieved under various operating conditions (temperatures and irradiations).

It is no doubt that the optimal power flow (OPF) has great importance in electric power systems. It aims at assigning the adequate operating levels in order to meet the required demands with the objective of minimizing combined economic and environmental concerns. Integration of emerged technologies of voltage source converter (VSC) stations in AC meshed power systems changes foremost their corresponding operation and control features. The VSC stations are usually connected with each other through HVDC lines and consequently a multi-terminal direct current (MDC) system is established. This paper presents an improved manta ray foraging optimizer (IMRFO) for solving the OPF in electric power systems with and without emerged technologies of VSC stations. The proposed IMRFO aims at minimizing the total fuel costs, the total environmental emissions, and the total electrical losses. The MRFO simulates the foraging behaviors of the manta rays. MRFO is improved to handle multi-objectives by incorporating an outward store for the non-dominated Pareto individuals. The form of the fitness function is adaptively varied by iteratively changing their weights. Furthermore, a technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) is applied to extract a suitable operating point among the resulted Pareto set. Several applications of the proposed IMRFO are presented for conventional IEEE 30-bus system, as an AC meshed power system, and modified IEEE 30-bus with emerged VSC stations, as a hybrid AC/MDC meshed power system. Simulation results declare that the proposed algorithm has great effectiveness and robustness features compared to the others. Also, various well-distributed Pareto solutions are obtained based on the proposed algorithm with adequate techno-economic-environmental characteristics.

Power system operators and planners have progressively shown an interest in maximizing distribution automation technologies. The automated distribution systems (ADS) provide the capability of efficient and reliable control which require an optimal operation strategy to control the status of the line switches and also dispatch the controllable devices. Therefore, this paper introduces an efficient and robust technique based on Jellyfish Search Algorithm (JFSA) for optimal Volt/VAr coordination in ADSs based on joint distribution system reconfiguration (DSR), distributed generation units (DGs) integration and Distribution static VAr compensators (SVCs) operation. The suggested technique is used for the dynamic operation of ADS in order to minimize losses and reduce emissions when considering regular daily loading conditions. The 33-bus and 69-bus delivery DSs have been subjected to a variety of scenarios. These situations are mostly concerned with achieving optimum distribution system operation and control, as well as validating the proposed methodology. Despite the problem's complexity, the proposed technique JFSA is shown to be the best solution in all of the cases considered. Furthermore, a comparison of the proposed JFSA with other similar approaches demonstrates its usefulness as a method to be used in modern ADS control centers.

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All over the world, the operators of the power distribution networks (DNs) are still looking for improving the efficiency of their networks. The performance of DNs and lifetime of its component have been significantly affected by its capability of varying their topologies with accurate load gathering via smart grid functions. This paper investigates making use of the smart DNs features and proposes a model of handling the capability of re-allocating the capacitors integrating with configuring the DNs topology. Using the developed formulation, the efficiency of DNs can be improved not only by minimizing the operational costs related to the network losses but also by optimizing the investment costs associated with capacitor reallocations. Also, various load patterns are employed in the developed formulation to imitate the daily load variations over a year. The improved sunflower optimization algorithm (ISFOA) is proposed in this paper to get the optimal solution of the presented problem. The standard IEEE 33-node feeder and practical 84-node system of Taiwan Power Company (TPC) are the considered test systems. Besides, the uncertainties due to a distributed generation of wind power are investigated via Monte Carlo simulation involved with the proposed ISFOA. Furthermore, to verify the ability of ISFOA to obtain better solutions compared with different recent optimizers, a statistical comparison is carried out based on a large scale 118-node distribution systems. The simulation results reveal that significant technical and economic benefits are obtained by applying the proposed algorithm with higher superiority and effectiveness.INDEX TERMS Performance enhancement, multi-lateral distribution networks, network re-topology, capacitor re-allocations.