Electrical Power and Energy Systems 79 (2016) 275–284

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Electrical Power and Energy Systems

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijepes

Improved Harmony Algorithm for optimal locations and sizing

of capacitors in radial distribution systems
E.S. Ali a, S.M. Abd Elazim a,⇑, A.Y. Abdelaziz b
a
Electric Power and Machine Department, Faculty of Engineering, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt
b
Electric Power and Machine Department, Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In this paper, an Improved Harmony Algorithm (IHA) is proposed for optimal allocations and sizing of
Received 27 November 2014 capacitors in various distribution systems. First the most candidate buses for installing capacitors are
Received in revised form 12 December 2015 suggested using Loss Sensitivity Factors (LSF) and Voltage Stability Index (VSI). Then the proposed IHA
Accepted 2 January 2016
is employed to deduce the size of capacitors and their locations from the elected buses. The objective
function is designed to reduce the total cost and consequently, to increase the net saving per year. The
proposed algorithm is tested on 85 and 118 bus radial distribution systems. The obtained results via
Keywords:
the proposed algorithm are compared with others to highlight their benefits. Moreover, the results are
Improved Harmony Algorithm
Power systems
introduced to verify the effectiveness of the suggested algorithm to minimize the losses and total cost
Optimal capacitor locations and to enhance the voltage profiles and net saving for various distribution systems and different loading
Loss Sensitivity Factors conditions.
Voltage Stability Index Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Distribution systems

Introduction drawbacks, the Improved Harmony Algorithm (IHA) is proposed

At the distribution level, about 13% of the generated power is
lost as ohmic losses [1,2]. These losses can be diminished by instal-
ling of shunt capacitors at appropriate positions. Moreover, the
voltage profile, power factor and power system stability are
improved. Thus, the optimal sizing and locations of these capaci-
tors have a vital role in distribution system.
During last years, several algorithms and techniques are intro-
duced to find the proper locations and optimal sizes of shunt
capacitors. Nonlinear Programming [2], Simulated Annealing (SA)
[3], Tabu Search (TS) [4], Genetic Algorithm (GA) [5], Particle
Swarm Optimization (PSO) [6,7], Direct Search Algorithm (DSA)
[8], Teaching Learning Based Optimization (TLBO) [9], Plant
Growth Simulation Algorithm (PGSA) [1,10], Heuristic Algorithm
[11], Cuckoo Search Algorithm (CSA) [12–14], Artificial Bee Colony
(ABC) [15–17], Ant Colony Search Algorithm (ACO) [18,19], Bacte-
ria Foraging (BF) [20], Firefly Algorithm (FA) [21], Harmony Search
(HS) [22,23] and big bang-big crunch optimization [24] are devel-
oped to deal with the capacitor placement problem. However,
these algorithms may not guarantee reaching the optimal cost
and get trapped in local minimum. In order to overcome these
in this paper to solve the problem of optimal capacitor placement.
HS has been introduced by Geem [25,26]. It is inspired by the
improvisation of music players [27–29]. The effectiveness of its
improved algorithm over others is achieved in [30–33]. Also, its
superiority is confirmed in various engineering problems
[30–33]. Moreover, it is clear from the literature survey that the
application of IHA to solve the problem of capacitor location has
not been discussed. This encourages us to adopt IHA to deal with
this problem.
In this article, IHA is presented to diminish the total active
power losses and the total cost and to reinforce the voltage profiles
for different distribution systems. The locations of the shunt capac-
itors problem are obtained at first by examinations of the buses of
higher Loss Sensitivity Factors (LSF) with smaller Voltage Stability
Index (VSI). Then IHA is introduced to decide the optimal locations
and sizing of capacitors from the specified buses. The effectiveness
of the proposed algorithm in enhancing the voltage profile and
reducing ohmic losses is shown for two distribution systems with
different scales and topologies. The results of the IHA are compared
with various algorithms to confirm its notability.

Loss Sensitivity Factors

⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: ehabsalimalisalama@yahoo.com (E.S. Ali), sahareldeep@ LSF is employed in this paper to assign the candidate buses for
yahoo.com (S.M. Abd Elazim), almoatazabdelaziz@hotmail.com (A.Y. Abdelaziz). capacitors. The area of search is greatly reduced and consequently

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijepes.2016.01.015
0142-0615/Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
276 E.S. Ali et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 79 (2016) 275–284

Nomenclature

Pk ; Q k the total effective active and reactive power supplied QdðqÞ the demand of reactive power at bus q
behind the bus ‘k’ N the number of total buses,
Vk the magnitude of voltage at bus k, V min ; V max the minimum and maximum voltages at bus i,
Rik ; X ik the resistance and reactance of transmission line be- PF power factor,
tween bus ‘i’ and ‘k’ PF min the minimum power factor
Vi the magnitude of voltage at bus i PF max the maximum power factor
HM Harmony Memory PF sys the power factor at swing bus
xil ;xiu the minimum and maximum limits for every variable SLi the actual complex power in line i
hms Harmony memory size SLiðratedÞ the rated line complex power in that line i
hmcr Harmony memory considering rate Q c min the minimum injected vars
par pitch adjusting rate for each generation Q c max the maximum injected vars
parmin minimum pitch adjusting rate
parmax maximum pitch adjusting rate List of abbreviations
bw distance bandwidth for each generation IHA Improved Harmony Algorithm
bwmin minimum bandwidth LSF Loss Sensitivity Factors
bwmax maximum bandwidth VSI Voltage Stability Index
r uniform random number between [0, 1] SA Simulated Annealing
K the maximum number of improvisations TS Tabu Search
k the current improvisation GA Genetic Algorithm
KP the cost per kW-Hours PSO Particle Swarm Optimization
PLoss the total power losses after compensation PGSA Plant Growth Simulation Algorithm
T the time in Hours DSA Direct Search Algorithm
D the depreciation factor TLBO Teaching Learning-Based Optimization
CB the number of compensated buses CSA Cuckoo Search Algorithm
KC the cost per kVAr ABC Artificial Bee Colony
KI the cost per installation ACO Ant Colony Optimization
Q Ci the value of installed reactive power in kVAr BF Bacteria Foraging
Ko the operating cost FA Firefly Algorithm
PSwing the active power of swing bus HS Harmony Search
Q Swing the reactive power of swing bus GSA Gravitational Search Algorithm
L the number of transmission line in a distribution system NA Not Available
PdðqÞ the demand of active power at bus q

the time consumed in optimization process by using LSF. For a
transmission line connected between ‘i’ and ‘k’ buses, as given in
Fig. 1.
The active power loss in this line is specified by I2ik Rik [6], which
can be given below by
ðP2k þ Q 2k ÞRik
Pik
loss ¼
ðV k Þ2
The LSF can be given by the following equations [34]:
@Pik
loss 2Q k  Rik
¼ ð2Þ
@Q k ðV k Þ2
These values are given from the base case load flow and are
ordered in descending order for all transmission lines. Then, nor-
malized voltages are obtained by dividing the base case voltage
by 0.95 [6]. If the values of these voltages are less than 1.01 they
can be considered as initial candidate buses for comparing with
the candidate buses getting from VSI.
Voltage Stability Index
For stable operation of a radial distribution system at all nodes
the VSIðkÞ P 0. VSI value is near 1.0 so the lower VSI values, the
highly sensitive nodes to voltage collapse. Consequently, VSI is
employed to select the weakest nodes that have more chance to
voltage collapse over all nodes. VSI equation is defined by the fol-
lowing equation [35–37]:
Overview of Harmony Search Algorithms
Conventional Harmony Search Algorithm
The Harmony Search (HS) algorithm was introduced in 2001 by
Geem [25]. It is inspired by the improvisation of music players. The
optimized solution vector is presented by the harmony, and the
ð1Þ
local and global searches are introduced by the musician’s
improvisations [26]. This algorithm involves Harmony Memory
(HM) considering rate and pitch adjustment rate for searching
the optimal solution [27]. It is simple algorithm, few in parameters
and easy in application [28]. It has been successfully utilized to
several optimization problems. The steps of this algorithm are
discussed below [29]:
1- Initialization of an optimization process and algorithm
parameters. The optimization process is defined as minimize
J(x) subject to xi 2 Xi i = 1, . . . n.
where J(x) is the objective function, xil 6 X i 6 xiu , is the set of
every solution vector and n is the variables number.
Here, the harmony memory size (hms), harmony memory
considering rate (hmcr), pitch adjusting rate (par), distance
bandwidth (bw) and maximum iterations are defined.

VSIðkÞ ¼ jV i j4
4fPk  X ik
Q k  Rik g2
4fPk  Rik þ Q k  X ik g  jV i j2 ð3Þ

Fig. 1. Radial distribution system equivalent circuit.
 E.S. Ali et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 79 (2016) 275–284 277

Table 1 xi ¼ xi  r:bw ð4Þ

The used parameters.
4- Update of HM. If a new harmony is better than any existing
KP = 0.06 $/kW-h, Ko = 300$/year/location,
harmony, then replace it.
T = 8760 h, KI = 1600$,
D = 0.2, 0:9lagging 6 PF sys 6 1; 5- Repeat steps 3 and 4 until the stopping criterion is achieved.
KC = 25 $/kVAr, 50 kVAr 6 Q c 6 1500 kVAr
Improved Harmony Algorithm

2- Initialization of HM which is filled with random values equal IHA algorithm is suggested to modify the par and bw in impro-
to the hms. visation step [30] instead of their constant values in HS to enhance
3- Improvisation of a new harmony according to the memory its effectiveness [31]. The modified parameters are shown below:
consideration, par, and random selection. The solution vari-
par 
max
par min
able is updated according to probability of par. The modified parðkÞ ¼ parmin þ k ð5Þ
K
rule is given as:

43
42 51 56
41 50
37 38 39 40 49
48
25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
52 53 54
16 17
24 55
78 85 44 45 46 47
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
~ 80 81 82
23
18 57 83 84
60 61 62 77
19 58
20 59
21 79 76
63 64 65 66
22

67 68 69 70 71
72

73 74
75

Fig. 2. The line diagram of the 85 bus system.

LSF

Bus number

Fig. 3. LSF for the 85 system.

278 E.S. Ali et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 79 (2016) 275–284

Fig. 4. Effect of compensation on system VSI for 85-bus system. Fig. 5. Effect of compensation on system voltages for 85-bus system.

Table 2
Optimal location and size in kVAr for 85-bus system.

(Locations and injected kVAr) Total kVAr

PGSA [1] (7,200), (8,1200), (58,908) 2308 with 3 locations
GA [5] (26,48.437), (28,214.062), (37,103.125), (38,120.312), (39,178.125), (51,100), (54,212.5), (55,101.562), (59,4.6875), 2206.2 with 19 locations
(60,157.812), (61,112.5), (62,104.688), (66,9.375), (69,100), (72,67.187), (74, 112.5), (76,71.875), (80,356.25), (82,31.25)
PSO [6] (7,314), (8,796), (27,901), (58,453) 2464 with 4 locations
DSA [8] (6,150), (8,150), (14,150), (17,150), (18,150), (20,150), (26,150), (30,300), (36,450), (57,150), (61,150), (66,150), (69,300), 2700 with 14 locations
(80,150)
TLBO [9] (4,300), (7,150), (9,300), (21,150), (26,150), (31,300), (45,150), (49,150), (55,150), (61,300), (68,300), (83,150), (85,150) 2700 with 13 locations
GSA [40] (8,150), (12,150), (29,350), (36,450), (68,450), (83,1050) 2600 with 6 locations
IHA (8,250), (29,350), (34,400), (54,150), (58,350), (64,500), (83,250) 2250 with 7 locations

Table 3
Results for 85-bus system.

Items Uncompe-nsated Compensated

PGSA [1] GA [5] PSO [6] DSA [8] TLBO [9] GSA [40] IHA
Year 2011 2007 2007 2012 2014 2015 2015
Total losses (kW) 315.714 161.4 146.061 163.32 144.01 143.18 143.09 144.72
Loss reduction (%) – 48.88 53.4 48.27 54.39 54.65 54.69 54.16
Minimum voltage 0.8713 – – – 0.9224 0.9242 - 0.937
Annual cost ($/year) 165939.3 98231.8 99580.7 100,641 97871.7 96815.4 91890.8 91654.8
Net saving ($/year) – 67707.4 66358.6 65298.3 68067.6 69123.9 74048.5 74284.4
% saving – 40.8 39.99 39.35 41.02 41.66 44.62 44.76
Best case($/year) NA NA NA NA NA NA 91654.8
Worst case($/year) NA NA NA NA NA NA 93664.7
Average ($/year) NA NA NA NA NA NA 91855.1
Variance NA NA NA NA NA NA 128339.2
Standard deviation NA NA NA NA NA NA 358.24

20
1 3
ln bwmin IHA is introduced in recent papers as a new optimization algorithm
bwmax
bwðkÞ ¼ bwmax exp 4@ Ak5 ð6Þ to solve many problems in power systems as given in [32,33]. In this
K paper, this technique is proposed to search for the optimal locations
 E.S. Ali et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 79 (2016) 275–284 279

of capacitors and their sizing in different distribution systems. The condition. Forward sweep algorithm has been introduced by Das
parameters of IHA are given in Appendix A. et al. [38] to solve load flow problem of distribution systems. The
equality constraint is given by the following equation:
Objective function X
L X
N
PSwing ¼ PLineloss ðiÞ þ PdðqÞ ð8Þ
The proposed objective function of optimal capacitor location i¼1 q¼1

problem is to minimize the total cost which is determined by the

following equation: X
CB X
L X
N
Q Swing þ Q Ci ¼ Q Lineloss ðiÞ þ QdðqÞ ð9Þ
X
CB i¼1 i¼1 q¼1
Cost ¼ K P  PLoss  T þ DðK I  CB þ K C  Q Ci Þ þ K o CB ð7Þ
i
Inequality constraints
where the constants are taken as [17]. Voltage constraint. The magnitude of voltage at each bus must be
limited by the following equation:
Equality and inequality constraints
V min 6 jV i j 6 V max ð10Þ
The above equation is minimized whilst satisfying the following
equality and inequality constraints. where Vmin, Vmax are the minimum and maximum voltages at bus i.
These values are taken as 0.90 and 1.1 p.u respectively in distribu-
tion systems as given in [6].
Equality constraint
Load flow constraint. Traditional methods such as Newton Raphson
Compensation constraint. The injected reactive power at each can-
and Gauss Siedel cannot be used in distribution system due to ill
didate bus should be less than its effective reactive power.
4
x 10
9.205 Total reactive power constraint. It is noteworthy that the total
injected reactive power is limited by the following equation:
9.2

X
CB X
N
9.195
Q Ci 6 QdðqÞ ð11Þ
Objective function

i¼1 q¼1
9.19

9.185
Power factor constraint. Power Factor of overall system (PFsys)
9.18 should exceed the minimum value and less than the maximum
value as shown by the following equation.
9.175
PF min 6 PF sys 6 PF max ð12Þ
9.17

9.165 Line capacity constraint. The complex power through any line must
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
be less than its rating value as given by the following equation.
Iterations
SLi 6 SLiðratedÞ ð13Þ
Fig. 6. Change of objective function with iterations for 85-bus system.

Table 4
Results of 85-bus system for different loadings.

Loading Uncompensated Compensated Installed kVAr

100% Minimum voltage 0.8713 0.937 7 Locations
Total active losses (kW) 315.714 144.72 Total = 2250
Total reactive losses (kVAr) 197.63 89.9836
System Power Factor 0.71 (lagging) 0.9897 (lagging)
Annual cost ($/year) 165939.3 91654.8
Net saving ($/year) – 74284.4
75% Minimum voltage 0.9081 0.9344 Bus (8) = 250
Total active losses (kW) 166.5635 87.2287 Bus (29) = 350
Total reactive losses (kVAr) 104.7 53.1983 Bus (58) = 350
System Power Factor 0.71 (lagging) 0.9659 (lagging) Bus (64) = 500
Annual cost ($/year) 87545.77 55577.4 Total = 1450
Net saving ($/year) – 31968.4
50% Minimum voltage 0.9402 0.9568 Bus (8) = 200
Total active losses (kW) 70.0292 37.8054 Bus (29) = 350
Total reactive losses (kVAr) 44.0399 23.1907 Bus (58) = 350
System Power Factor 0.71 (lagging) 0.9525 (lagging)
Annual cost ($/year) 36807.34 26230.5 Total = 900
Net saving ($/year) – 10576.8
Net Injected Fixed (location, kVAr): (8, 200), (29, 350), (58, 350)
kVAr Switched (location, kVAr): (8, 50), (34, 400), (54, 150), (64, 500), (83, 250).
280 E.S. Ali et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 79 (2016) 275–284

12 13 14 15 16 17

10 11

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
2 4 5 6 7 8 9 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52

28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43
3

61 62
53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

85 86 87 88

78 79 80 81 82 83 84

1 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77
~
89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112

97 98 99 113 114 115 116 117 118

Fig. 7. The line diagram of the 118 bus system.

LSF

Bus number

Fig. 8. LSF for the 118 system.

Capacitor rating constraint. The injected kVAr of the installed 85-Bus test system
capacitor is presented as a discrete value by step of 50 kVAr and
specified by the following equation. Uncompensated system
Fig. 2 shows the line diagram of 85-bus system. The system data
Q c min 6 Q c 6 Q c max ð14Þ are given in [35]. The losses without compensation are
315.714 kW. The minimum voltage has been recorded as
0.8713 p.u. at bus number 54. The annual cost is computed as
Results and discussion 165939.3$.

The superiority of the proposed IHA with LSF and VSI over other
algorithms is confirmed for various distribution systems. The
results of 85 and 118 bus radial distribution systems are given
below in details. The proposed algorithm has been performed via
MATLAB [39]. The parameters used in calculation are given in
Table 1.
Compensated system
The candidate bus can be obtained according to their LSF as
shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 4 determines the values of VSI for each bus.
The notability of the proposed IHA to decide the best location of
capacitors and to detect their sizes is verified by comparison
with those obtained in [1,5,6,8,9,40]. The optimal locations and
 E.S. Ali et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 79 (2016) 275–284 281

the percentage reduction in losses is enhanced to 54.16. Moreover,

the minimum voltage has been increased from 0.8713 p.u to
0.937 p.u. Also, the value of total cost due to the proposed objective
function is 91654.8$. Consequently, the net saving is equal to
74284.4$ with percentage of 44.76%. In addition, the improve-
ments of system VSI and voltages are presented in Figs. 4 and 5
due to the installed capacitors and the convergence rate of the
proposed objective function is displayed in Fig. 6. A CPU of 40.3 s
is needed for this system. Furthermore, the statistical performance
of the proposed IHA is displayed in Table 3 to show the best,
worst, mean, variance and standard deviations of the total annual
cost for 50 runs. Finally, Table 4 presents the optimal capacitor
locations and their sizes for different loadings. Also, the values of
fixed and switched capacitors, minimum voltage, losses, overall
power factor, annual cost, net saving and injected kVAr are
obtained.

Superiority of IHA over others

Fig. 9. Effect of compensation on system VSI for 118-bus system.
capacities of capacitors are given in Table 2 for various algorithms.
IHA decides seven buses to install capacitors as minimum locations
with lower vars. The value of installed capacity of reactive power is
2250 kVAr. The losses are decreased from 315.714 kW to
144.72 kW due to compensation devices as shown in Table 3. Then,
In [1], the capacitor location problem was handled via PGSA.
The losses were reduced to 161.432 kW by installing total installed
capacitors of 2308 kVAr at 3 sites. The net saving was improved to
67707.4$ with percentage of 40.8%. In [5], this problem was treated
using GA. The losses were reduced to 146.061 kW by using total
installed capacitors of 2206.2 kVAr at 19 locations. The net saving
was enhanced to 66358.6$ with percentage of 39.99%. In [6], the
same problem was carried out using PSO. By installing a net reac-
tive power of 2464 kVAr at 4 buses, the net loss was decreased to
163.32 kW. As a result, the net saving was 65298.3$ with percent-
age of 39.35%. However, the previous references present good
results. They assume the values of capacitor are continuous values
instead of discrete ones. In [8], the problem was performed using
DSA. The power losses were diminished to 144.01 kW by using of

Table 5
Optimal location and size in kVAr for 118-bus system.

(Locations and injected kVAr) Total kVAr

CSA [14] (32,1500), (39,1500), (40,550), (70,950), (74,750)(86,1050), (108,1500), (118,1200) 9000 with 8 locations
ABC [17] (32,850), (35,1050), (40,1300), (50,800), (70,550), (73,1300), (79,1200), (105, 700), (106,250), (109,800), (110,1200) 10,000 with 11 locations
HS [23] (79,714), (77,170), (76,192), (75,509), (74,272), (73,432), (72,386), (113,974), (56,375), (115,493), (54,377), (53,425), 9928 with 21 locations
(111,641), (52,753), (112, 793), (51,349), (71, 513), (110,281), (50,165), (70,626), (49,488)
IHA (32,1500), (40,1500), (70,900), (74,1100), (89,1500), (104,300), (106,900), (112,400), (118,1300) 9400 with 9 locations

Table 6
Results for 118-system.

Items Uncompen-sated Compensated

CSA [14] ABC [17] HSA [23] IHA
Year 2014 2014 2014 2015
Total losses (kW) 1294.35 858.89 854.39 926.1 853.46
Loss reduction (kW) (%) – 33.64 33.99 28.26 34.06
Total losses (kVAr) 974.85 644.94 639.08 – 609.46
Loss reduction (kVAr) (%) – 33.84 34.44 – 37.48
Minimum voltage 0.8688 0.906 0.90886 – 0.9004
Maximum voltage 0.9321 0.997 0.99741 – 0.9966
PFoverall 0.7879 0.92 0.9295 – 0.9438
Annual cost ($/year) 680310.36 501392.6 505887.4 549418.2 501160.31
Net saving ($/year) 178917.8 174,423 130892.2 179150.05
% saving 26.3 25.64 19.24 26.33
Best case ($/year) NA NA NA 501160.31
Worst case ($/year) NA NA NA 506297.45
Average ($/year) NA NA NA 501322.1
Variance NA NA NA 1106008.2
Standard deviation NA NA NA 1051.6
282 E.S. Ali et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 79 (2016) 275–284

118-Bus test system

Uncompensated system
The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is investigated on
118 node test system which contains 117 branches as a large scale
radial distribution network. The total load demand of this test sys-
tem is 22709.72 kW and 17041.07 kVAr respectively. The system is
operated with the nominal bus voltage of 11 kV and 100 MVA base.
The nodes of 118 bus test system have been renumbered as shown
in Fig. 7. The line data and load are given in [41–43]. Before com-
pensation the active and reactive losses at nominal load are
1294.35 kW and 974.85 kVAr. The minimum voltage has been
recorded as 0.8688 p.u. The annual cost is computed as 680310.36$.

Compensated system
The values of LSF are shown in Fig. 8. The values of VSI for all
buses are calculated via Eq. (3) and are drawn in Fig. 9. Based on
the proposed algorithm, 9 nodes are identified as the most sensi-
tive nodes for capacitor placements with net injection of
9400 kVAr. The locations and amount of injected vars are sched-
uled in Table 5 compared with [14,17,23]. The simulation results
of optimal capacitor sizes and their corresponding locations, total
active and reactive losses, minimum and maximum voltage
excluding slack bus and net saving are summarized in Table 6. It
Fig. 10. Effect of compensation on system voltages for 118-bus system. is clear that, the minimum voltage is increased from 0.8688 p.u.
to 0.9004 p.u. The active and reactive power losses are reduced
to 853.46 kW and 609.46 kVAr with percentage reduction of
34.06% and 37.48% respectively. Also, the overall PF is enhanced
5 from 0.7879 to 0.9438. Moreover, simulation results reveal the
x 10
5.0132 superiority of the proposed IHA to reduce the total cost to
501160.31$ and to improve the net saving to 179150.05$ with per-
5.013
centage of 26.33% compared with other algorithms. Furthermore,
5.0128 the effect of compensation can be seen on system VSI and voltage
profiles as indicated in Figs. 9 and 10 and the total cost is decreased
Objective function

5.0126
5.0124
5.0122
5.012
5.0118
5.0116
0 10 20 30 40 50
Iterations
Fig. 11. Change of objective function with iterations for 118-bus system.
2700 kVAr at 14 places. Then, the net saving was amended to
68067.6$ with percentage of 41.02%. In [9], the problem was solved
using TLBO. The power losses were decreased to 143.18 kW by
using of 2700 kVAr at 13 positions. Then, the net saving was mod-
ified to 69123.9$ with percentage of 41.66%. However, refs. [5,8,9]
present good results; large numbers of buses are compensated. In
[40], the problem was fixed via GSA. The active power losses were
minimized to 143.09 kW by using of 2600 kVAr at 6 nodes. Then,
the net saving was increased to 74048.5$ with percentage of
44.62%.
IHA is introduced in this paper with LSF and VSI indices to find
the optimal locations of capacitors. The net saving is 74284.4$ with
percentage of 44.76% which is the largest one compared with other
algorithms. This can be achieved by installing of 2250 kVAr at 7
nodes. Therefore, the notability of the suggested algorithm over
others is proved.
to optimal value as displayed in Fig. 11. A CPU of 68.1 s is needed
for this system to reach optimal solution. In addition, the statistical
performance of the proposed IHA is displayed in Table 6 to show
the best, worst, mean, variance and standard deviations of the total
annual cost for 50 runs. Finally, Table 7 presents the optimal capac-
itor locations and their sizes for different loadings. Also, the values
of fixed and switched capacitors, minimum voltage, losses, overall
power factor, annual cost, net saving and injected kVAr are
obtained.
60 70 80 90 100
Superiority of IHA over other methods
In [23], the capacitor location problem was handled via HSA.
The losses were decreased to 926.1 kW by installing total capaci-
tors of 9928 kVAr at 21 sites. The net saving was improved to
130892.2$ with percentage of 19.24%. However, this reference
introduces good results. It assumes the values of capacitor are con-
tinuous values instead of discrete ones. In [14], the capacitor loca-
tion problem was treated using CSA. The losses were reduced to
858.89 kW by using total installed capacitors of 9000 kVAr at 8
locations. The net saving was enhanced to 178917.8$ with percent-
age of 26.3%. The CPU time was about 800 s with 91 iterations
which is considered a concern for this algorithm. In [17], the same
problem was carried out using ABC. By installing a net reactive
power of 10,000 kVAr at 11 buses, the net loss was decreased to
854.39 kW. As a result, the net saving was 174,423$ with percent-
age of 25.64%. The CPU time was about 560 s for ABC.
IHA is introduced with LSF and VSI indices to find the optimal
locations and sizing of capacitors. The total losses are 853.46 kW
with percentage reduction of 34.06% which is the greatest one.
Moreover, the net saving is 179150.05$ with percentage of
26.33% which is the largest one compared with other algorithms.
 E.S. Ali et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 79 (2016) 275–284 283

Table 7
Results of 118-bus system for different loadings.

Loading Uncompensated Compensated Installed kVAr

100% Minimum voltage 0.8688 0.9004 9 locations Total 9400
Total active losses (kW) 1294.35 853.4633
Total reactive losses (kVAr) 974.85 609.46
System Power Factor 0.7879 (lagging) 0.9438 (lagging)
Annual cost ($/year) 680310.36 501160.31
Net saving ($/year) – 179150.05
75% Minimum voltage 0.905 0.92 Bus 32 = 1200
Total active losses (kW) 695.92 491.38 Bus 40 = 900
Total reactive losses (kVAr) 525.78 351.596 Bus 70 = 900
System Power Factor 0.79 (lagging) 0.9168 (lagging) Bus 89 = 1200
Annual cost ($/year) 365775.6 288870.5 Bus 118 = 1300
Net saving ($/year) – 76905.1 Total 5500
50% Minimum voltage 0.939 0.944 Bus 40 = 900
Total active losses (kW) 296.77 207.8465 Bus 70 = 900
Total reactive losses (kVAr) 224.83 149.0972 Bus 89 = 900
System Power Factor 0.79 (lagging) 0.9158 (lagging) Bus 118 = 900
Annual cost ($/year) 155982.3 129724.12 Total 3600
Net saving ($/year) – 26258.18
Net Injected Fixed (location, kVAr) (40,900), (70,900), (89,900), (118,900)
kVAr Switched (location, kVAr) (32,1500), (40,600), (74,1100), (89,600), (104,300), (106,950), (112,400), (118,400)

This can be achieved by installing of 9400 kVAr at 9 nodes. There-
fore, the superiority of the suggested algorithm is achieved.
Conclusions
In this paper, IHA has been successfully implemented to solve
the problems of optimal locations and sizing of capacitors in distri-
bution systems that have been established as an objective opti-
mization task with computing power losses, cost of installation
and operation and injected vars. The superiority of the proposed
approach is achieved by using two different large systems. More-
over, the results have been compared with other algorithms. Also,
it provides a promising and preferable performance over other
algorithms in terms of active and reactive power losses, total cost
and net saving. Solving of optimal capacitor location problems
using different indices with the most recent optimization algo-
rithms is the future scope of this work.
Appendix A
Improved Harmony search parameters: Maximum number of
iterations = 100, hms = 150, hmcr = 0.9, parmax = 0.9, parmin = 0.3,
bwmax = 0.5, bwmin = 0.2.
References
[1] Rao RS, Narasimham SVL, Ramakingaraju M. Optimal capacitor placement in a
radial distribution system using plant growth simulation algorithm. Int J
Electrical Power Energy Syst 2011;33:1133–9.
[2] Nojavan S, Jalali M, Zare K. Optimal allocation of capacitors in radial/ mesh
distribution systems using mixed integer nonlinear programming approach.
Int J Electric Power Syst Res 2014;107:119–24.
[3] Chiang HD, Wang JC, Cockings O, Shin HD. Optimal capacitor placements in
distribution systems: Part 1: a new formulation and the overall problem. IEEE
Trans Power Delivery 1990;5(2):634–42.
[4] Gallego RA, Monticelli AJ, Romero R. Optimal capacitor placement in radial
distribution networks using tabu search. IEEE Trans Power Syst 2001;16
(4):630–7.
[5] Sydulu M, Reddy V. Index and GA based optimal location and sizing of
distribution system capacitors. IEEE Power Eng Soc General Meeting 2007:1–4.
24–28 June 2007.
[6] Prakash K, Sydulu M. Particle swarm optimization based capacitor placement
on radial distribution systems. IEEE Power Eng Soc General Meeting 2007:1–5.
24–28 June 2007.
[7] Ziari I, Ledwich G, Ghosh A, Cornforth D, Wishart M. Optimal allocation and
sizing of capacitors to minimize the transmission line loss and to improve the
voltage profile. Comput. Math. Appl. 2010;60:1003–13.
[8] Raju M, Murthy K, Avindra K. Direct search algorithm for capacitive
compensation in radial distribution systems. Int J Electrical Power Energy
Syst 2012;42(1):24–30.
[9] Sultana S, Roy PK. Optimal capacitor placement in radial distribution systems
using teaching learning based optimization. Int J Electrical Power Energy Syst
2014;54:387–98.
[10] Kumar SA. Power loss reduction in radial distribution system by using plant
growth simulation algorithm. J Energy Technol Policy 2012;2(3):19–26.
[11] Hamouda A, Sayah S. Optimal capacitors sizing in distribution feeders using
heuristic search based node stability indices. Int J Electrical Power Energy Syst
2013;46:56–64.
[12] Das P, Banerjee S. Placement of capacitor in a radial distribution system using
loss sensitivity factor and cuckoo search algorithm. Int J Sci Res Manage
2013;2(4):751–7.
[13] El-Fergany AA, Abdelaziz AY. Cuckoo search-based algorithm for optimal
shunt capacitors allocations in distribution networks. Electric Power Comp
Syst 2013;41(16):1567–81.
[14] El-Fergany AA, Abdelaziz AY. Capacitor allocations in radial distribution
networks using cuckoo search algorithm. IET Generation, Transm Distrib
2014;8(2):223–32.
[15] Legha MM, Tavakoli M, Ostovar F, Hashemabadi MA. Capacitor placement in
radial distribution system for improve network efficiency using artificial bee
colony. Int J Eng Res Appl 2013;3(6):228–33.
[16] Fard AK, Samet H. Multi-objective performance management of the capacitor
allocation problem in distributed system based on adaptive modified honey
bee mating optimization evolutionary algorithm. Electric Power Comp Syst
2013;41(13):1223–47.
[17] El-Fergany AA, Abdelaziz AY. Artificial bee colony algorithm to allocate fixed
and switched static shunt capacitors in radial distribution networks. Electric
Power Comp Syst 2014;42(5):427–38.
[18] Su CT, Chang CF, Chiou JP. Optimal capacitor placement in distribution systems
employing ant colony search algorithm. Electric Power Comp Syst 2005;33
(8):931–46.
[19] Chang CF. Reconfiguration and capacitor placement for loss reduction of
distribution systems by ant colony search algorithm. IEEE Trans Power Syst
2008;23(4):1747–55.
[20] Tabatabaei SM, Vahidi B. Bacterial foraging solution based fuzzy logic decision
for optimal capacitor allocation in radial distribution system. Int J Electric
Power Syst Res 2011;81:1045–50.
[21] Das P, Banerjee S. Optimal sizing and placement of capacitor in a radial
distribution system using loss sensitivity factor and firefly algorithm. Int J Eng
Comput Sci 2014;3(4):5346–52.
[22] Rao RS, Satish K, Narasimham SVL. Optimal conductor size selection in
distribution systems using the harmony search algorithm with a differential
operator. Electric Power Comp Syst 2011;40(1):41–56.
[23] Muthukumar K, Jayalalitha S, Ramasamy M, Haricharan C. Optimal shunt
capacitor allocation and sizing using harmony search algorithm for power loss
minimization in radial distribution networks. Int J Dev Res 2014;4(3):537–45.
[24] Sedighizadeh M, Arzaghi-haris D. Optimal allocation and sizing of capacitors to
minimize the distribution line loss and to improve the voltage profile using big
bang-big crunch optimization. Int Rev Electrical Eng 2011;6(4):2013–9. Part B.
[25] Geem ZW, Kim JH, Loganathan GV. A new heuristic optimization algorithm:
Harmony search. Simulation 2001;76(2):60–8.
[26] Geem ZW. Music-inspired harmony search algorithm. Heidelberg,
Germany: Springer; 2009.
284 E.S. Ali et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 79 (2016) 275–284
[27] Geem ZW. Optimal cost design of water distribution networks using harmony
search. Eng Optim 2006;38(3):259–80.
[28] Lee KS, Geem ZW. A new meta-heuristic algorithm for continuous engineering
optimization: Harmony search theory and practice. Comput Methods Appl
Mech Eng 2005;194(36–38):3902–33.
[29] Yang XS. Harmony search as a metaheuristic algorithm. In: Music-inspired
harmony search algorithm: theory and applications. Studies in computational
intelligence. Berlin: Springer; 2009. p. 1–14. vol. 191.
[30] Omran MGH, Mahdavi M. Global-best harmony search. Appl Math Comput
2008;198(2):643–56.
[31] Mahdavi M, Fesanghary M, Damangir E. An improved harmony search
algorithm for solving optimization problems. Appl Math Comput 2007;188
(2):1567–79.
[32] Coelho LS, Mariani VC. An improved harmony search algorithm for
power economic load dispatch. Energy Convers Manage 2009;50(10):
2522–6.
[33] Jeddi B, Vahidinasab V. A modified harmony search method for environmental/
economic load dispatch of real-world power systems. Energy Convers Manage
2014;78(February):661–75.
[34] Jalilzadeh S, Sabouri M, Sharifi E. Optimal capacitor placement in a radial
distribution system using shuffled frog leaping and particle swarm
optimization algorithms. Int J Network Security 2012;3(2):16–20.
[35] Das D, Kothari DP, Kalam A. Simple and efficient method for load flow solution
of radial distribution networks. Int J Electrical Power Energy Syst 1995;17
(5):335–46.
[36] Chakravorty M, Das D. Voltage stability analysis of radial distribution
networks. Int J Electrical Power Energy Syst 2001;23:129–35.
[37] Garg JK, Swami P. Calculating voltage instability using index analysis in radial
distribution system. Int J Modern Eng Res 2014;4(4):15–26.
[38] Das D, Nagi HS, Kothari DP. Novel method for solving radial distribution
networks. IEE Proc Generation, Transm Distrib 1994;141(4):291–8.
[39] MathWorks, available at: http://www.mathworks.com.
[40] Shuaib YM, Kalavathi MS, Rajan CCA. Optimal capacitor placement in radial
distribution system using gravitational search algorithm. Int J Electrical Power
Energy Syst 2015;64:384–97.
[41] Zhang D, Fu Z, Zhang L. An improved TS algorithm for loss-minimum
reconfiguration in large-scale distribution systems. Int J Electric Power Syst
Res 2007;77:685–94.
[42] Abdelaziz AY, Mohamed FM, Mekhamer SF, Badr MAL. Distribution system
reconfiguration using a modified tabu search algorithm. Int J Electric Power
Syst Res 2010;80:943–53.
[43] Ghasemi S, Moshtagh J. Radial distribution systems reconfiguration considering
power losses cost and damage cost due to power supply interruption of
consumers. Int J Electrical Eng Informatics 2013;5(3):297–315. Sep..