TITLE:
Localization of Voltage Regulators in Distribution Systems by a Mixed Genetic–Tabu Search Algorithm
AUTHORS:
M. C. Pimentel Filho, M. F. Medeiros
KEYWORDS:
Regulator Banks; Distribution Systems; Genetic Algorithms; Tabu Search
JOURNAL NAME:
Energy and Power Engineering,
Vol.5 No.4B,
November
7,
2013
ABSTRACT: The optimal allocation of regulators banks in
distribution systems is a merely combinatorial problem in which the best points
of installation correspond to the best benefit, considering the admitted
objective function, without violating and operating limits. The objective
function must be chosen so that its value represents the operation state of the
system. As the problem possesses combinatorial nature, its complexity will
increase exponentially with the number of possibilities. Systems with large
numbers of nodes and / or with the possibility of installing more than one bank
require a large number of calculations to find the solution. An additional
issue is the fact that the problem does not have a continuous nature,
presenting discontinuity points in the objective function, limiting the
application of optimization methods based on gradients. Based on the nature of
the problem two optimization methods were used to solve the problem: Genetic
Algorithm (GA) and modified Tabu Search (TS). The GA function will scour the
search space and find regions with local minima that are candidates to be the
solution. On the other hand the TS provides local search in the regions defined
by GA so that the overall optimum is achieved.