Volt/VAr optimization with energy savings for distribution system using intelligent control

The introduction of the smart grid concept and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) technologies in the power systems area has attracted new attention to make distribution systems efficient and save more energy. Volt/VAr control is a commonly performed technique which enables utilities to run distribution systems on lower voltage resulting in higher energy savings. Although this technique has been implemented in distribution systems for a long time, new research is needed to adapt volt/VAr control with contemporary technologies' additional information and feedback. Voltage regulators and capacitor banks are used as two main control devices in the volt/VAr control scheme. With smart grid development, feedback from end-of-line (EOL) in distribution systems is provided. Furthermore, utilities installed more switch capacitors instead of fixed capacitor banks. In this paper, a volt/VAr control scheme is proposed to take aforementioned evolutions into account. The volt/VAr control problem is developed as an optimization problem in which the particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique is used to find an optimum solution for voltage regulator tap settings and switch capacitors status. The developed PSO algorithm is validated against an enumerative search strategy to ensure its correct execution. The proposed algorithms are implemented on the IEEE 13 bus distribution test system.