Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) is a private university located in&nbsp;Tamil Nadu, India. Founded in 1984, as Vellore Engineering College, the institution offers 20 undergraduate, 34 postgraduate, four integrated and four research programs. It has campuses in Vellore, Amravati, Bhopal and Chennai.

VIT is one of the top ranked private universities in India according to NIRF, THE and QS Rankings.&nbsp;Govt. of India has recognized&nbsp;VIT, Vellore as an&nbsp;Institution of Eminence. This has allowed VIT to take independent quality initiatives and move up in world ranking.

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VIT University

Planning of renewable energy based distributed generators (DG) is to be done with utmost care because of the uncertain nature of their outputs. In this paper, a multi-objective PSO based solution methodology for the DG planning problem is proposed taking into account the concerns of the grid operators, distribution network operators and the end consumers. Load shifting along with time of use pricing is the strategy adopted for performing demand side management, thereby reducing the discomfort level and the electricity bill of the customers. DG planning is done for solar and wind based sources along with demand side management in order to minimize the system real power loss, improve voltage profile, increase reliability and reduce the expenses of the distribution network operator. Reliability is evaluated using encoded Markov cut set algorithm considering the failure rates, adequacy transition rates, mechanical failures, and starting and switching probability of the DG. The test network considered is the 102 node meshed distribution network connected to Bus 4 of the Roy Billinton test system. Results prove that load shifting along with dynamic pricing can be used as a viable option to reduce the operational expenses of the network operator. © 2021

Electrical

School of Electrical Engineering

Chennai Campus

Electric Power Systems Research

Integrated resource planning for a meshed distribution network under uncertainty

Distributed generation (DG) sources are becoming more popular nowadays because of their technoeconomic and environmental benefits. These benefits are maximized only when the DG sources are properly planned and installed in the distribution networks. Several studies have been carried out in this field considering various objectives and constraints, for single as well as multiple DG placement and sizing. In this paper, an optimization methodology based on particle swarm optimization is used for the optimal planning of multiple DG sources in a meshed distribution network. The solution consists of the possible DG locations, DG capacities, and its operating power factor. The objectives considered are the improvement of reliability indices namely the system average interruption frequency index and system average interruption duration index, reduction of real power loss, and voltage profile improvement. Unlike other works, reliability evaluation is done considering many realistic constraints and it is used as one of the criteria for DG planning. Reliability indices are evaluated using the encoded Markov cut set algorithm. The real power loss and the voltage index are obtained by means of a simple load flow technique. The stochastic nature of the renewable DG output and the load are taken into account during the reliability evaluation along with islanding probability. The optimal planning of DG sources is done for bus 4 of the Roy billinton test system consisting of seven feeders, 102 nodes, and 106 components. Optimal planning for solar based DG sources is done considering three different load models namely residential, commercial, and mixed load. © 2019 Author(s).

Fulltext

Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy

Reliability based optimal DG planning for a meshed distribution network

Distributed generation (DG) sources are being installed in distribution networks worldwide due to their numerous advantages over the conventional sources which include operational and economical benefits. Random placement of DG sources in a distribution network will result in adverse effects such as increased power loss, loss of voltage stability and reliability, increase in operational costs, power quality issues etc. This paper presents a methodology to obtain the optimal location for the placement of multiple DG sources in a distribution network from a technical perspective. Optimal location is obtained by evaluating a global multi-objective technical index (MOTI) using a weighted sum method. Clonal selection based artificial immune system (AIS) is used along with optimal power flow (OPF) technique to obtain the solution. The proposed method is executed on a standard IEEE-33 bus radial distribution system. The results justify the choice of AIS and the use of MOTI in optimal siting of DG sources which improves the distribution system efficiency to a great extent in terms of reduced real and reactive power losses, improved voltage profile and voltage stability. Solutions obtained using AIS are compared with Genetic algorithm (GA) and Particle Swarm optimization (PSO) solutions for the same objective function.