IET Generation, Transmission & Distribution

Research Article

Optimum tie switches allocation and DG

placement based on maximisation of system
loadability using discrete artificial bee colony
algorithm

ISSN 1751-8687
Received on 20th March 2015
Revised on 14th January 2016
Accepted on 7th April 2016
doi: 10.1049/iet-gtd.2015.0303
www.ietdl.org

Muhammad Mohsin Aman , Ghauth B. Jasmon, Hazlee Mokhlis, Ab Halim Abu Bakar
Electrical Engineering Department, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
E-mail: mohsinaman@gmail.com

Abstract: Due to an exponential increase in load demand and lack of capital resources to improve the existing
transmission line infrastructure, power utilities are focusing on methods to increase the efficiency and loadability of
existing infrastructure. This study presents a new approach for simultaneous optimum distributed generation (DG)
placement and optimum tie-switch allocation based on maximisation of system loadability using discrete artificial bee
colony algorithm. The proposed algorithm is tested on 16-Bus, 33-Bus and 69-Bus radial distribution test system. The
obtained results show that with simultaneous optimum DG placement and optimum tie-switch allocation, better results
are achieved rather than solving two problems independently. Further it was also found that the proposed method has
improved the efficiency of the system in terms of maximisation of system loadability, reduction in power system
losses, improving the kVA margin to maximum loadability and voltage quality improvement.

Introduction

Utilities are facing major problems due to continuous load growth

and lack of capital investment in transmission network. It is also a
fact that the existing transmission systems in most of the countries
are quite old. For example in US, the 345 kV bulk transmission
system and associated substation, cables and wires are more than
40 years old and above [1]. In another report [2], almost three
quarters of the US grids transmission lines and power
transformers are more than 25 years old. Transmission investment
has been falling for a quarter century at an average rate of almost
US$50 million a year, however there has been a small upturn in
the last few years [1]. Similarly in UK, the 400 kV overhead line
provides the backbone of the UK electricity transmission network
and has been installed for over 50 years and the 400 kV
underground cable has also been available for over 40 years [3].
Such a system is not capable to meet the growing demand and
transfer the generated power from the centralised power generation
to the distribution system. This has resulted into the bottleneck in
the transmission system.
The higher power losses in the transmission and distribution
system also result in reducing the efciency of the existing system.
It has been reported that only distribution power losses due to
Joule effect account for as much as 13% of the generated energy
[4]. The Joule effect refers to energy which is lost as heat in the
conducting material. According to world bank statistics [5], annual
electricity transmission and distribution losses of world average
about 8.10% of the electricity that is transmitted. Electrical
transmission and distribution losses as high as 54.60% have been
reported for Haiti country [5]. This non-negligible amount of
losses has a direct impact on the nancial results and the overall
efciency of the system. Thus the major focus of
present-day-research is to effectively utilise the existing
infrastructure with better planning and using smart technologies.
In literature, minimisation of I 2R power losses was a major target
for power system researchers to increase the efciency of the existing
system infrastructure [6]. Researchers have proposed network
reconguration, distributed generation (DG) placement and shunt
capacitor placement approaches to reduce the power losses of the
system [6]. Higher power losses result in thermal limit and also

results in introduction of sag in conductor material. Study has

proven that the distribution system maximum loadability is limited
by the voltage limit rather than the thermal limit [7]. Maximum
loadability or maximum loading margin of the system is dened
as the maximum increase in power system load from the base load
till the voltage instability is observed. The determination of
maximum loadability of a system is essential to prevent voltage
collapse. Another voltage stability terminology reported in [8] is
kVA margin to maximum loadability (KMML). It is dened as an
additional load (in kVA) from the operating point O to the point
of voltage collapse. For example, when the tie switches in
distribution system changes its position, the operating point of the
system has shifted from O1 to O2 and a different KMML is
obtained, as shown in Fig. 1.
From Fig. 1, it can be observed that the curve A (due to optimum
tie switches placement) will have a better voltage prole than curve
B (with initial tie switches position) at each loading. Further it can
also be noted that with changing network arrangement, the
operating point of the system can be increased from O1 to O2
(within the allowable branch current limits and bus operating
voltage limits). From continuation power ow theorem [9] and
results of [10], it can be concluded that increasing the maximum
loadability (lmax) improves the overall voltage prole.
In this paper, a simultaneous optimum DG placement and
optimum tie-switch allocation based on maximisation of system
loadability is proposed. Authors in [1115] have combine
optimum DG placement and optimum tie-switch allocation to
reduce the power losses and improve efciency of distribution
system. The combine strategy of DG placement with recloser and
switches increases the reliability of distribution system [16].
Different optimisation techniques have also been used to solve the
network reconguration problem [1720]. Here it is noted that the
network reconguration problem differs from the continuous
nature power systems problem e.g. unit commitment problem and
optimum DG sizing. In network reconguration problem, tie
switches represent the integer numbers (e.g. 1, 2, 3n where n
represents tie switches position), thus the optimisation techniques
based on Gaussian formulation (used in EP) [21], position-velocity
based mutation formulation (used in PSO) [22], and probability of
food source (used in ABC) [23] cannot lead to a global tness

IET Gener. Transm. Distrib., 2016, Vol. 10, Iss. 10, pp. 22772284
& The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2016

2277

indexes. Although k is determined randomly, it has to be different

from iteration i. fij is a random number between [1, +1], it
controls the production of neighbour food sources around xij and
represents the comparison of two food positions visually by a bee.
The detailed steps of ABC algorithm can be seen in [27, 28].
From (1), it can be seen that the new generated tie-switch position
will result in continuous decimal value. In this section, a new type
of ABC algorithm i.e. DABC is used to nd the optimum tie
switch combinations in solving the network reconguration
problem. DABC works in the same manner of Articial Bee
Colony (ABC), except at mutation step. The mutation function,
based on continuous optimisation, can be unsuitable for solving
network reconguration problem due to following two reasons:
(i) In a discrete plane (tie switches), the generated continuous
population might not generate a feasible solution and rounding off
the new food source becomes essential.
(ii) Rather than mutating all the food source position, it is essential
that a certain level of knowledge must be retained during mutation
process. This may result in fast convergence of optimisation problem.
Fig. 1 Effect of changing network arrangement on KMML

solution. The rounding-off the mutated particles positions using the

aforementioned continuous techniques may also result in slow
convergence. Authors have also used binary optimisation
techniques of PSO [24] and GA [25] to switch on and off tie
switches position from the given loop. However such approach is
not suitable in case of large distribution system having multiple
tie-switches because a lot of effort is required in creating such
loops and the random opening of tie switches operation result in
slow convergence. In this paper, a modied articial bee colony
(ABC) algorithm initially proposed in [26] referred as discrete
articial bee colony (DABC) algorithm is used to nd the
optimum tie-switches position. In DABC algorithm, certain level
of heuristic knowledge (related to tie switches position) is retained
based upon the last feasible solution.
This paper is organised as follows: In Section 2, the DABC
algorithm is presented. In Section 3, the proposed algorithm for
simultaneous solution of network reconguration and DG placement
problem is proposed. In Section 4, the proposed algorithm is
applied on 16-bus, 33-bus and 69-bus radial distribution test
systems. Results are also discussed in the same section.

DABC algorithm

ABC is a meta-heuristic algorithm introduced by Karaboga and

Basturk [27]. ABC is inspired from the foraging behaviour of
swarm of bees during the foraging. ABC consists of food sources,
worker bees and non-worker bees. The colony size (employed bees
plus onlooker bees) is represented by N. The number of food
sources (SN) equals the half of the colony size i.e. N/2. The number
of the employed bees or the onlooker bees is equal to the number
of solutions in the population i.e. SN. At the rst step, the ABC
generates a randomly distributed initial population P of SN
solutions (food source positions). Each solution (food source) xi
(i = 1, 2, , SN) is a D-dimensional vector. Here, D is the number
of optimisation parameters. After initialisation, the population of the
positions (solutions) is subjected to repeated cycles of the search
processes of the employed bees, the onlooker bees and scout bees.
An articial employed or onlooker bee probabilistically produces a
modication on the position (solution) in her memory for nding a
new food source and tests the nectar amount (tness value) of the
new source (new solution). In order to produce a candidate food
position from the old one in memory, the ABC uses (1)
vij = xij + fij (xij xkj )

(1)

where k(1, 2, SN) and j (1, 2, , D) are randomly chosen

2278

Thus a modied mutation process is introduced in DABC to retain

a certain level of heuristic knowledge. In original ABC, the
employed and onlooker bees will search the new food source at
the neighbourhood location that exists in their memory in a greedy
manner. The possibility of food in nearby location is identied
using probability function calculations. In DABC, the employer
and onlooker bees will search the new food source at the
neighbourhood location that exists in their memory, however
certain knowledge is retained from the stored good results. This
strategy will result in fast convergence of optimisation algorithm
[26]. The mutation process of DABC in case of solving network
reconguration, having 5 tie switches in the system [a1, a2, a3, a4,
a5] is shown in Table 1.
From Table 1, it can be observed that in DABC certain level of
heuristic knowledge (related to tie switches position) is retained
based upon the last feasible solution. A single line switch (e.g. a1)
randomly changes the position in each run (a1xi1yi1). Here xi
represents the new tie switch for the rst run (i = 1) and yi
represents the new tie switch for the second run (i = 2) that is
randomly generated in integer form.
DABC is based on array indexing principle. In DABC, rather than
mutating the food source position (tie switch position- a integer
number) directly, the position (address) of the particle is mutated.
The detailed steps of mutating the tie switches positions are given
in Table 2.
Table 1 DABC method for optimum tie switch positions
Parent solution
The randomisation process is started
First run (i =
first tie position is randomly
1)
replaced
second tie position is
randomly replaced
third tie position is randomly
replaced
fourth tie position is
randomly replaced
fifth tie position is randomly
replaced
The randomisation process is again repeated
Second run
(i = 2)

first tie position is randomly

replaced
second tie position is
randomly replaced
third tie position is randomly
replaced
fourth tie position is
randomly replaced
fifth tie position is randomly
replaced

a1

a2

a3

a4

a5

xi1

a2

a3

a4

a5

a1

xi2

a3

a4

a5

a1

a2

xi3

a4

a5

a1

a2

a3

xi4

a5

a1

a2

a3

a4

xi5

yi1

a2

a3

a4

a5

a1

yi2

a3

a4

a5

a1

a2

yi3

a4

a5

a1

a2

a3

yi4

a5

a1

a2

a3

a4

yi5

IET Gener. Transm. Distrib., 2016, Vol. 10, Iss. 10, pp. 22772284
& The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2016

Different tie-switch positions will result in radial as well

non-radial system, graph theory based radial load ow method
[29] will select only radial distribution system. Thukaram Radial
Load Flow (RLF) method [30] will be run for each successful
switch combination (radial system only) and system loadability
will be computed. The process of searching by employed,
onlooker and scout bees will continue until it reaches the
maximum number of iteration. The detailed steps of generating
integer number for new tie switches position can be seen in [26].
In the present case of nding optimum tie switch position on the
basis of maximisation of system loadability, one or more tie switches
combination may result in same maximum loading factor (lmax).
One possible solution is to decrease the loading factor e.g. from
0.01 to 0.001 or even less. However this approach will highly
increase the computation time in calculating maximum loadability
of the system. Thus in order to nd the optimum tie-switch(s)
position, a new K-matrix variable will be introduced in DABC
algorithm. K-matrix will contain the tie switches combination and
corresponding maximum loadability and power losses of the
system, as given
Variables(Tie Switches+DGPosition+DGsize)



x11 x12 x13 x14 x15

x11 .
.
.
.

KMatrix =
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
xn1 .
.
.
.

Fitness


lmax 1
lmax 2
lmax 3
lmax 4
lmax 5
lmax 6

Sorting Criteria


Plosses1
Plosses2
Plosses3
Plosses4
Plosses5
Plosses6

(2)
K-matrix variable will help in nding the optimum tie-switch
position on the basis of maximum loadability of the system as
well as minimum power losses. The utilisation of K-matrix in
solving network reconguration problem will be explained in next
section.

3 Proposed algorithm for simultaneous optimum

network reconfiguration and DG placement based
on maximisation of system loadability
In this section, an algorithm will be proposed for simultaneous
determination of optimum tie-switch position and optimum DG
position based on maximisation of system loadability, using


f = Max lmax

(3)

where, f is the tness function and lmax is maximum loadability or

loading factor of the system.
To nd the maximum loadability or loading factor of the system
(lmax), the active and reactive load is increased on all buses
simultaneously, using (4), with an equal loading factor of 0.01, till
the divergence is observed in load ow analysis.
Pnew = P0 Loading factor(l)

(4a)

Qnew = Q0 Loading factor(l)

(4b)

where, l is a loading factor, Po and Qo is initial active and reactive

power load, connected with ith bus, Pnew and Qnew is nal active and
reactive power load, connected with ith bus.
DABC algorithm will be used for optimum tie-switch position and
optimum DG position. Tie switches position and the DG position
will represent the food position in case of DABC algorithm,
given by (5).

Tie switches
Food position =

x11 x12 x3 x4 x5

DG positions


y1 y2 y3




z1
(5)

DG size

IET Gener. Transm. Distrib., 2016, Vol. 10, Iss. 10, pp. 22772284
& The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2016

Following constraints, given in (6), related to DG placement are

considered in problem formulation.
Size of DG: 0

n


k
SDG

Sload

(6a)

k=1

(n = No. of DG units)
Position of DG:2 DG position nbuses

(6b)

Position of DG:PosDG1 = PosDG2 = PosDG3

(6c)

where

SLoad


 nbus
nbus


=
Pi2 +
Q2i
i=2

(6d)

i=2

The amount of active and reactive power from a single DG unit can
be calculated using (7) and (8), respectively.
PDG = SDG Power factor

2 P2
QDG = SDG
DG

(7)
(8)

Different tie-switch(s) position will result in radial (status = 1) as

well non-radial system (status = 0), given in (9). However graph
theory will only select those particles which will maintain the
radiality of the system and ensure that all nodes are connected
with the source node.
status == 1 (radial system)
status == 0 (non-radial system)


(9)

The alteration of network topology due to tie switches relocation and

DG placement may increase the line current in some of the branches
and bus voltages on some of the buses. Thus the line amperage limits
and bus voltage constraints are also introduced in problem
formulation, given in (10) and (11), respectively.
i
i
, ILimit
IDG+NR

i = 1 to nbr

(10)

k
0.95 Vbus
1.05 k = 1 to nbus

(11)

where nbr is total number of branches, nbus is total number of buses

and Vbus is bus voltage.
The complete ow chart of the proposed algorithm to nd
optimum tie switches position and optimum multi DG placement
simultaneous using DABC, is shown in Fig. 2.

4 Application of proposed algorithm on radial

distribution system
In this section, the proposed algorithm of simultaneous optimum
tie-switches allocation and optimum DG placement will be applied
on standard 16-bus, 33-bus and 69-bus radial distribution test
system in following scenarios.
Scenario 1 is a base-case scenario.
Scenario 2 is a case study when only network reconguration is
considered.
Scenario 3 is a case study when only DG placement problem is
considered.
Scenario 4 is a case study when DG placement and network
reconguration problems are handled simultaneously.
Following results of [31] regarding optimum DG power factor and
optimum number of DG units are utilised.

2279

Table 2 Steps for generating new tie switches positions in DABC

Steps
1
2

4
5
6
7

Steps details

Example on 33-bus test system

Suppose there are pth number of switches in the system and 5 among them are
normally open tie switches [a1, a2, a3, a4, a5].
At any time, only pth-5 switches are turned ON while the remaining 5 tie
switches will remain in OFF position. This integer value ( pth-5) is stored in
variable perm_value.
The perm_value is then shuffled using the randperm() command and stored in
shufed variable. randperm() command randomly permutates the integers from
1 to perm_value.
First position in shuffled variable is selected and stored in variable rst_perm.
Variable y is a variable containing all switch position excluding the original tie
switches combination.
A random switch position is taken by accessing the first switch position from y
available switch positions i.e. x1 = y(rst_perm).
This random number replaces one of the switch positions from original switch
combination i.e. [a1, a2, a3, a4, a5] [x1, a2, a3, a4, a5], where x1 is a randomly
generated new tie switch position.
This process is repeated for the 2nd switch position until the 5th switch position
and all the positions are stored in variable new_position.

Once the 5th switch position has been replaced, this whole process is done
again for the second run and stored in same variable new_position.

pth = 37;
tie = [7, 9, 14, 28, 32]
perm_value = 32;

shufed = [23, 3, 28, 15, 12, 26, 29, 24, 22, 10, 2, 11, 6, 1, 30, 9,
25, 13, 20, 5, 19, 31, 8, 16, 21, 32, 17, 18, 27, 14, 7, 4]
rst_perm = 23;
y = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21,
22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37]
x1 = 26
[7 9 14 28 32] [26 9 14 28 32]
new_position=
[26, 9, 14, 28, 32
7, 23, 14, 28, 32
7, 9, 8, 28, 327, 9, 14, 5, 32
7, 9, 14, 28, 22];
new_position=
[26, 9, 14, 28, 32
7, 23, 14, 28, 32
7, 9, 8, 28, 32
7, 9, 14, 5, 32
7, 9, 14, 28, 22
27, 9, 14, 28, 32
7, 30, 14, 28, 32
7, 9, 2, 28, 32
7, 9, 14, 23, 32
7, 9, 14, 28, 34]

Fig. 2 Flow chart of proposed algorithm for simultaneous optimum tie switches allocation and multi DG unit placement using DABC

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IET Gener. Transm. Distrib., 2016, Vol. 10, Iss. 10, pp. 22772284
& The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2016

Table 3 Simultaneous network reconfiguration and DG placement evaluation indices [8, 32, 33]
Parameters

Formulae
n
bus

QLI

Vi Li

i=1

VPI

VPI% =

n
bus

Vi(0) Vi(DG+NR)

2

Parameters

Formulae

kVA margin to maximum loadability

improvement (KMMLI)

KMML(0) KMML(DG+NR)
KMMLI% =
100
KMML(0)

active line-loss reduction (PLR)

PLR% =

i=1

system loadability
improvement (SLI)
VDI

lmax (0) lmax (DG+NR)

100
lmax (0)

2
NVB 
i=1 Vi VLimit (i )
VDI =
nbus

SLI% =

reactive line-loss reduction(QLR)

qualified load index improvement

(QLII)

Re{losses}0 Re{losses}DG+NR
100
Re{losses}0

Im{losses}0 Im{losses}DG+NR
100
Im{losses}0
nbus

nbus

Vi Li (DG+NR)
i=1 Vi Li (0)
nbus
i=1
100
QLII% =
i=1 Vi Li (DG+NR)
QLR% =

Subscript (0) is representing the base case when no DG(s) is present in the system and tie switches are present at initial stage.
Subscript (DG+NR) is representing the case when DG(s) is present in the system and the tie-switches position has been changed.
nbus is total number of buses. Vi is voltage magnitude at bus i. Li is active load at bus i pu. lmax is maximum loadability of the system.
KMML is kVA margin to maximum loadability of the system.
NVB are the number of buses that violate the voltage limits.

(i) The power factor of DG, in case of 16-bus, 33-bus and 69-bus
system will be considered as 0.85, 0.95 and 0.95, respectively.
(ii) The number of DG units in case of 16-bus, 3-bus and 69-bus
test system will be considered as 1 unit, 3 units and 1 unit
respectively.
(iii) DG penetration is considered as maximum as possible, without
violating DG constraints, line amperage constraint and bus voltage
constraint, given in (6), (10) and (11), respectively. In this case, it
is highly possible that the bus voltages and line current may cross
the maximum limit, thus line amperage constraint and bus voltage
constraint are introduced in problem formulation.

Fig. 3 Single line diagram of 16-Bus distribution test system

The effectiveness of proposed network reconguration and DG

placement algorithm can be evaluated by calculating the indices

Table 4 Application of proposed algorithm on radial distribution bus test systems

Scenario

base case (Scenario 1)

only reconfiguration (Scenario 2)

only DG installation (Scenario 3)

reconfiguration with
simultaneous
DG installation (Scenario 4)

Parameters

16-bus
system

33-bus system

switches opened
active power loss (kW)
reactive power loss (kVAR)
system loading margin lMax
KMML
NBVV
VDI
QLI
switches opened
active power loss (kW)
reactive power loss (kVAR)
system loading margin lMax
KMML
NBVV
VDI
VPI
QLI
switches opened
DG position
DG size in kVA
active power loss (kW)
reactive power loss (kVAR)
system loading margin lMax
KMML
NBVV
VDI
VPI
QLI
switches opened
DG position
DG size in kVA
active power loss (kW)
reactive power loss (kVAR)
system loading margin lMax
KMML
NBVV
VDI
VPI
QLI

15, 16, 17
511.40
590.33
7.55
191916.12
0
0
28.15
8, 9, 17
466.10
544.87
8.12
208617.22
0
0
0.0224
28.19
15, 16, 17
8
13948.00
223.60
287.74
8.57
221802.29
0
0
0.0750
28.66
8,9,17
8
13508.6
232.79
297.78
9.2
240261.40
0
0
0.0655
28.64

33, 34, 35, 36, 37

210.99
143.01
3.40
10486.44
21
0.0245
3.52
7, 9, 14, 28, 32
139.97
104.87
5.23
18482.35
7
0.0023
0.1793
3.58
33, 34, 35, 36, 37
32, 14
2072.00, 1637.10
113.15
90.63
4.99
17433.71
0
0
0.5115
3.76
7, 10, 14, 28, 32
25, 9
3117.50, 956.60
58.86
46.54
6.31
23201.25
0
0
0.3462
3.72

IET Gener. Transm. Distrib., 2016, Vol. 10, Iss. 10, pp. 22772284
& The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2016

69-bus system

69, 70, 71, 72,

224.95
102.15
3.21
10297.87
9
0.0119
3.62
14, 57, 61, 69,
98.59
92.04
5.49
20921.93
1
0.0001
0.1834
3.70
69, 70, 71, 72,
61
3635.00
104.86
46.02
4.83
17846.54
0
0
0.4042
3.87
13, 17, 38, 57,
61
4102.50
160.81
91.85
7.53
30427.66
0
0
0.3317
3.83

73

70

73

63

2281

Fig. 4 Maximum loading curve for 16-bus radial systems

dened in Table 3. The voltage quality of the system is measured by

calculating the qualied load index (QLI), voltage deviation index
(VDI), voltage prole improvement (VPI) and number of buses
violating voltage limit (NBVV).
QLI represents the quality of bus voltage available at nth bus for a
given load in quantitative term. Higher the QLI value, the better will
be the voltage quality of the power system. VDI calculate the
deviation of bus voltages from the standard voltage limits (0.95
VLimit 1.05) in quantitative term. Higher value of VDI will
represent more deviation of bus voltages from the standard given
voltage limits.
4.1

16-bus radial distribution test system

When the proposed algorithm of simultaneous optimum tie-switches

allocation and DG placement determination is applied on 16-bus
radial distribution test system (shown in Fig. 3) [34], results
presented in Table 4 are obtained. The base load of 16-bus system
is 29300.17 kVA.
From Table 4, it can be observed that using the proposed
algorithm, the loadability of the system has been improved (also
shown in Fig. 4). The system is able to carry higher load than the
cases of only network reconguration (scenario 2) and only DG
placement (scenario 3) without violating the system constraints.
Further it can also be noted that the maximisation of system
loadability has also improved the KMML and voltage quality of
the system.
The evaluation indices dened in Table 3 are used to compute the
effectiveness of proposed method in quantitative terms and the
comparative results are presented in Fig. 5.
From Fig. 5, it can be seen that the application of proposed
algorithm has increased the loadability of the system by 20% and
the power losses of the system has been reduced more than 50%.
The nal system conguration after optimum DG placement and
tie switches allocation is shown in Fig. 6.
The importance of K-matrix can also be explained using scenario
4 (simultaneous solution of network reconguration and DG
placement problem). From the results, presented in Table 5, it can
be seen that two different tie switches combination will result in
same maximum loadability of the system, however different power
losses. Thus, using the DABC, the system having minimum power
losses and maximum loadability will be selected.
4.2

33-bus radial distribution test system

When the proposed algorithm of DG unit placement is applied on

33-bus radial distribution test system [35], results presented in
Table 4 are obtained. The single line diagram of the 33-Bus
system is shown in Fig. 7. The base load of 33-bus system is
4369.35 kVA.
From Table 4, it can be seen that the performance of proposed
simultaneous DG placement and network reconguration

2282

Fig. 5 Effectiveness of proposed algorithm using evaluation indices dened

in Table 3
a 16-bus system
b 33-bus system
c 69-bus system

Fig. 6 Single line diagram 16-bus system when DG is placed at bus-8 and
optimum tie switches position is 8, 9 and 17

Table 5 Importance of K-matrix

Tie
switches
9, 17, 8
9, 14, 8

DG
position

DG size
(kVA)

Fitness function
(lMax)

Sorting criteria
(Plosses)

8
8

232.85
259.57

9.2
9.2

13.5158
13.5177

IET Gener. Transm. Distrib., 2016, Vol. 10, Iss. 10, pp. 22772284
& The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2016

Fig. 7 33-bus distribution test system with 5 tie switches

Fig. 8 Single line diagram of 69-bus distribution system

algorithm is found better than the cases of only network

reconguration (scenario 2) and only DG placement (scenario 3).
The power losses of the system have been reduced by 80% and
the maximum loadability of the system has been increased by
more than 70%.
4.3

(scenario 2) and only DG placement (scenario 3). The power

losses of the system have been reduced by 80% and the maximum
loadability of the system has been increased by more than 140%.
With the new system conguration and DG presence, the system is
able to carry more loads without violating the bus voltage and line
current constraints.

69-bus radial distribution test system

When the proposed algorithm of DG unit placement is applied on

69-bus radial distribution test system [20], results presented in
Table 4 are obtained. The base load of 69-bus system is 4659.67
kVA. The single line diagram of the 69-Bus system is shown in Fig. 8.
From Table 4, it can be concluded the performance of proposed
method is found better the cases of only network reconguration

IET Gener. Transm. Distrib., 2016, Vol. 10, Iss. 10, pp. 22772284
& The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2016

Conclusion

In this paper, a new algorithm has been proposed for simultaneous

optimum DG placement and optimum tie-switches allocation
based on maximisation of system loadability. DABC algorithm is
utilised to nd the optimum DG placement and optimum tie

2283

switches position. The application of proposed algorithm on 16-Bus,

33-Bus and 69-Bus test system shows that simultaneous optimum
DG placement and optimum tie-switches allocation give better
results in comparison to solving the two problems independently.
Results show that using the proposed algorithm with maximum
DG penetration, the system loadability has been improved by 21,
85 and 134% in case of 16-Bus, 33-Bus and 69-Bus test system
respectively. Further, using the proposed method, the efciency of
the system has been improved in terms of reduction in power
losses, improving the KVA KMML and voltage quality
improvement.

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IET Gener. Transm. Distrib., 2016, Vol. 10, Iss. 10, pp. 22772284
& The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2016

References