Optimized allocation and/or re-allocation of control and protective devices in distribution networks allows for a better operation and improvement of the reliability indices of the system. Control devices (used to reconfigure the feeders) are allocated in distribution networks to obtain an optimal operation strategy to facilitate power supply restoration in the case of a contingency. Protective devices (used to isolate faults) are allocated in distribution systems to improve the reliability and continuity of the power supply. It significantly reduces the impacts of faults in terms of customers' outages, and the time needed for fault location and system restoration. In this work, a binary non-linear programming model (BNLP) for the sectionalizing switches and protection devices allocation and/or re-allocation problem is presented. Constraints considered for the problem reflect technical and economical limitations, such as in-series protective devices coordination, number of available equipments, importance of the analyzed feeder, circuit topology, quality of power supply and physical limitations of the system. A dedicated Reactive Tabu Search Algorithm (RTS) is proposed for solving this problem. Results and optimized strategies for allocating or re-allocating protection devices and switches considering a real-life network restoration are presented.
Protection Systems; Restoration; Reliability; Reactive Tabu Search (RTS)
