Switch and recloser placement in distribution system considering uncertainties in loads, failure rates and repair rates

For maximizing the customer satisfaction and retention, improvement of service reliability is a major concern for electric utilities. Service reliability can be improved by placing switches and reclosers at appropriate locations in the distribution system so that supply from the main substation to the healthy load points can be maintained after isolating the faulted section. This paper presents a formulation for an optimal placement of switches and reclosers in a distribution system for maximizing system reliability while minimizing the associated investment and outage costs considering uncertainties in load data, system failure and repair rates. The uncertainties have been incorporated in the formulation using point estimate method (PEM). The proposed formulation has been tested on 13, 58 and IEEE 123-bus test systems using differential evolution (DE) and mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) method. The obtained results establish the effectiveness of the consideration of data uncertainties in improving the distribution system reliability and maximizing utilities’ profits.