Optimizing Distribution System Power Loss Using Behind-the-Meter Type 3 Generators

Abstract

Power utilities are expected to meet increasing power demands considering environmental concerns and financial restrictions and power loss minimization is an attractive solution. Operating current and power losses in distribution systems are higher than in transmission systems, so finding feasible methods to reduce power loss in distribution systems is important. Among the existing power loss reduction methods in distribution systems, distributed generation (DG) integration is the most effective. Generating power using renewable energy DG sources will also help environmental concerns. The increasing cost of fossil fuels and technological developments have made renewable energy sources financially viable. This report considers power loss reduction in distribution systems by integrating behindthe- meter type 3 DG sources. The IEEE 33 bus distribution system is considered as an example. Power loss is estimated by applying the forward/backward sweep (FBS) method, and power loss reduction is optimized using particle swarm optimization (PSO). The power factor, and DG location and size are used as optimization parameters to reduce power loss. The PSS SINCAL software is used to evaluate the proposed solution. Results presented show that for the same amount of DG penetration in a distribution system, behind-themeter type 3 DG sources reduce the power loss more than front-of-the-meter DG sources. Thus, utilities can not only benefit from saving investment costs but also higher efficiency in their distribution systems. DG sources are typically renewable, so environmental concerns are also mitigated.