ABSTRACT

A simple and efficient two-stage reconfiguration algorithm for minimization

of active power loss in the balanced and unbalanced distribution systems is
presented. In the first stage, the proposed method begins with all candidate
switches closed. It uses current information obtained from a power flow, rather
than from an optimal flow pattern used in other approaches to decide the switch to
be opened, in a sequential manner. In the second stage, branch exchange operation
is explored for further loss reduction. Results for four balanced systems and one
unbalanced system have been obtained with the proposed method, and compared
with those reported in the literature.

Index Terms- Heuristic optimization technique, loss minimization, power system

restoration, radial distribution networks, and reconfiguration.