Planning of Optimal Phase Balancing for an Unbalanced Distribution System: A Case Study of Cambodia

Abstract

This paper discusses the problem of minimizing the power loss in unbalanced distribution systems through phase-balancing with the phase swapping concept from substation (HV/MV) to all MV/LV substations. This paper proposes a genetic algorithm (GA) for the optimum phase unbalancing in the medium voltage unbalanced distribution system. To validate the proposed method, the real distribution system test of 47 buses in a rural area, Cambodia is selected. Firstly, the relevant data of the real test system which consists of phase connection, line data, and bus data are collected. Then, the performance with several indicators of the test system is provided. Next, the optimal simulation results are performed in the real distribution system with the proposed method to minimize the power loss and improve the voltage profile using load flow computation in MATLAB considering voltage regulation, maximum voltage unbalance, and total power losses. The simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method for planning and operation.