Optimal Placement and Sizing of Distributed Energy Resources for Distribution Systems

This paper presents a two-stage approach to determine the optimal locations and ratings of distributed energy resources (DERs) in a distribution network. The multi-objective DER planning problem is formulated from the network operator’s perspective to simultaneously boost the system efficiency by curtailing energy losses, enhance power quality by lowering the node voltage deviations and improve system reliability by reducing the energy not supplied to the consumers. The proposed problem is then put into a non-linear programming framework and solved using a mix of analytical and meta-heuristic algorithm. In the first stage, a meta-heuristic mixed-discrete improved Jaya (MDIJ) algorithm is used to obtain the proper locations and capacities of solar and wind DGs, whereas in the second stage, a load levelling-based approach in conjunction with MDIJ algorithm is employed to derive the appropriate sites and sizes of battery energy storage, biomass DG and variable shunt capacitor bank. The intrinsic uncertainties of weather-dependent renewable sources are taken into consideration. The efficacy of the suggested DER planning strategy is validated using various case studies.