2017 IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INTELLIGENT T ECHNIQUES IN CONTROL , OPTIMIZATION AND SIGNAL P ROCESSING

Optimal Placement of Distributed Generation in

Electric Distribution Networks
Dr. Mounir Bouzguenda1, Abdullah Samadi2, S. RajaMohamed3
1,2,3
College of Engineering, King Faisal University
Hofuf-31982, Al-Hasa, Saudi Arabia
1
email: mbuzganda@kfu.edu.sa

Abstract—This paper proposes a simple numerical
method to determine the optimal location of a
distributed generation (DG) within the distribution
network. The main objective of this work is to find the
optimal number, the type, the size and the bus location
of DG that would enhance the voltage levels and
reduce the power losses of the distribution network.
Initially, load flow, using Newton Raphson Method,
was carried out without DG to identify the weak
busses on the distribution network, then, the load flow
simulation was carried out with the DG units being
connected on the identified weak busses to evaluated
the impact of the DG units on the voltage profile and
power losses. The test case IEEE 30 bus system is
modeled using standard load flow software.
Simulation results with the DG units show
improvement in terms of voltage profile enhancement
and power losses reduction.
Test results indicate that the load flow studies yield
positive impact on the 30-bus distribution systems. The
maximum power losses reduction was as high as
15.30% and the bus voltage improvement reached 8.72
% for optimally placed single DG and 13.89% for 4
DG units.
Keywords— Distributed generation, Power losses
reduction, Voltage profile enhancement, Load flow.
I.INTRODUCTION
Smart Grids
Currently, all the countries actively involved to reduce
CO2 (Carbon dioxide) emission objectives, the solution
for save the environment from CO2 pollution problem to
turn to new energies with more sustainable and renewable.
However, the integrating renewable energy sources to the
existing electrical power grid structure has more
challenges that are technical. To increase the efficiency of
the existing power grid and utilize the renewable energy
exactly, new power grid structure that is called ‘smart
grid’ developed and used to meet the present enormous
electricity demands of the electricity consumers as utilize
the renewable energy in most proficient way. Smart grid
is the most significant and sustainable concepts currently
to provide reliable, secured, clean and high quality
electricity supply to the consumer using advanced control
mechanism [1]. Based on existing of conventional sources
power grid, smart grid is a new type of power grid, which
highly integrates with renewable energy and modern
advanced information technologies, communication and
control techniques with power grids. Currently, the power
grids are facing the challenges of interconnected (DG)
distributed generation with in it due to their old structure
and also it affects the utilization of renewable sources for
the last few years. The model of smart grid has been put
advancing for the power system in the future [2].
Distributed Generation
The contribution of distributed generators (DGs) in electric
power systems has been drastically increasing in the last
few years. The growing concern about environmental
pollution and more green energy utilization has also made
DG to be an appropriate auxiliary of the conventional
fossil fuel power plants. The design of the power system
with DG and reliability improvement requires considering
important factors, such as, the number, size and type of the
DG units. In addition, the optimal location of these units in
distribution system has been the subject of many studies.
On the other hand, the connection of the DG units at the
inappropriate places on distribution system can increase
system power losses and drop the voltage level below the
accepted voltage level at certain busses. As a result, the
optimal placement of DG is extremely essential in order to
reduce the overall power system power losses and
therefore improve voltage profile [3].
Load Flow Analysis with DG
Many research activities have proposed various optimal
placement methods. These activities range from analytical
to optimization approaches that have successfully allocated
and sized DG units [4-5]. Author in [6] particle swarm
optimization (PSO) algorithm for prime placement of
multi-DG is proposed and tested in IEEE 30 and IEEE 33
bus system, the simulation results presented that the
proposed method effectively reduces the total real power
loss, and improving voltage profile limit. In addition, the
proposed methodology is compared with other standard
optimization algorithm. This method is fast, efficient and
perfect in identifying the optimal number size, type, and
places of DG. Author in [7] proposed hybridized PSO
known method has been to determine the finest size and
location the DG units based on the power losses drop. The

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 2017 IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INTELLIGENT T ECHNIQUES IN CONTROL , OPTIMIZATION AND SIGNAL P ROCESSING

success of this method is tested on the IEEE 69 bus desired voltage profile is obtained. The system real power
system. The results concluded that proposed method is losses-Plosses, with n busses and M branches, as a function
simple and requires less computational time for finding the of DG size and system bus voltages is defined as follows:
optimum size and location of DG compared to EP and M
PSO algorithms. Author in [8], the DG optimal placement Plosses ¦P line( i , j ) (1)
DG is an integer problem and can be formulated using line( i , j ) 1
metaheuristic methods. Other work used Genetic
Algorithm (GA) to solve the DG placement and size and Pline(i , j ) Pi  Pj (2)
implemented on the IEEE 123 bus test system. Results
demonstration that the total losses were significantly
reduced by allocating the optimum size of DG in the Pi = PDGi - PDi Vi ¦ V >g k ik cos( T i  T k ) + b ik sin( T i  T k )@
optimum placement. In addition, the voltage profile of the (3)
network was within the specified standard range and in
¦ V >g sin( Ti  Tk ) + bik cos( Ti  Tk )@
general, voltage profile is enhanced.
Qi = QDGi - QDi Vi k ik

This paper presents the impacts of connected DG into (4)

distribution networks and investigates the optimal
locations and sizes of DGs using a simple numerical
method. In Section II, a brief discussion of distributed
generation issues is presented. Section III discusses the
proposed numerical method used for a minimization of
power losses and improvement of voltage profile. Test
case system modelling and simulation on the IEEE 30 Bus
system are reported in Section IV of the paper. Results and
discussions are included in Section V. Finally, Section VI
outlines the conclusion and recommendations.
II.DISTRIBUTED GENERATION
The distributed generation (DG) has different names for
different countries and for different regulatory agencies.
For instance, IEA-the International Energy Agency
defines distributed generation as a generating plant
serving a utility or providing auxiliary support to a
distribution network, connected to the grid at distribution-
level voltages. Moreover, CIGRE defines DG as a
generating plant that has the following characteristics:
x It is neither centrally planned and nor centrally
dispatched at the present stage.
x It is normally connected and worked with distribution
network.
x The size is small and ranges from 50 MW to less than
100 MW. Other organizations such as the Electric
Power Research Institute defines distributed
generation as generation size from a few kilowatts up
to 50 MW.
The standard definition of the DG system is "Distributed
Generation is an electric power source tied directly to the
distribution network or on the consumer of the meter" [9].
III.PROBLEM FORMAULTION
In this work, the number, location and size of DG units are
selected based on the minimum system power loss and
Where,
x i is the location of DG unit (i=1, 2, 3…, n)
x n is the total number of bus bars in the distribution
network.
x M is the number of branches in the power system
x Pi and Qi are net real and reactive power injection in
bus i, respectively.
x Vi and δi are the voltage magnitude and voltage angle
at bus i, respectively.
x PDGi and QDGi are the real and reactive power
generations of DG at bus i.
x PDi and QDi are the real and reactive power demand at
bus I, respectively.
x QDG is zero
Therefore, the aim is to minimize Ploss subject to the
following constraints:
Vi min d Vi d Vi max (5)
Pline(i , j ) d Pline(i , j ) max (6)
Properly setting the values of Vi,min and Vi,max would result
in a better system voltage profile [10]-[11].
IV.METHODOLOGY
The methodology consists of four main steps. The first
step is to perform the load flow analysis on the network
without distributed generation. The power losses and bus
voltages values are used as a reference. The second step is
to identify busses and feeders with significant losses and
voltage violation. A voltage violation occurs when the bus
voltage is not within the 5 percent margin. The third step is
to run the load analysis with the distributed generation
connected to the identified busses either one bus at a time
or multiple busses at a time. The obtained results are
compared with the reference case. The case that has
highest power losses reduction and lowest voltage
 2017 IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INTELLIGENT T ECHNIQUES IN CONTROL , OPTIMIZATION AND SIGNAL P ROCESSING

deviation violation is considered as the optimal case. The Table I. IEEE 30 Bus Description
voltage deviation 'V is expressed as: Item Details
N Busses 30
¦ 1  v 
2
'V i (7) Lines 40
i 1 Generators Feeders 6
Where N is the number of busses in the system and i is the PV System Candidate
bus number. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 28
Busses
Transformers 4
The fourth step is to run the technical feasibility of the Slack Bus 1
distributed generation system in terms of land availability, PV Buses 2, 13, 22, 23, 27
prices and access. This step is beyond the scope of the 3,4,5,7,8,10,12,14,15,16,17,
paper and can be considered in a subsequent study. Further PQ Buses
18,19,20,21,24,26,29,30
improvement is the sensitivity analysis regarding DG
power factor, real and reactive power demands.
VI.RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
V.MODELLING AND SIMULATION The proposed methodology was investigated using the
IEEE 30 Bus system without distributed generation with
The IEEE 30-bus system as shown in Fig.1, standard the aim of finding critical busses. This will be referred to
data’s listed in Table I is selected to evaluate to the as a reference case. The reference case results without
placement and sizing methodology using a 20 MW solar distributed generation indicate that busses 4, 5, 6, 7 and
power plan within the distribution network and the impact 28, listed in Table II have a voltage below 0.95 p.u. All
on the power losses and bus voltages. The line other busses are within the accepted voltage range. While
characteristics of the IEEE 30 bus systems are found in Table 3 lists the power generation level for busses 1, 2,
Appendix A.During load flow analysis, the IEEE 30-bus 13, 22, 23 and 27. The total real power and reactive power
system power demand is 283.8 MW and 126.2 MVAR losses are estimated at 21.99 MW, 59.84 MVA,
with a power factor of 86 % and a total generation of respectively.
304.79 MW and 186.04 MVAR, with a power factor of
91%. A voltage violation occurs if the voltage at the bus is Table II. Busses Under Voltage Violation For The
below 0.95 p.u. or above 1.05 p.u. The cumulative Reference Case
distributed generation of 20 MW with a unity power
Per unit Load
factor is assumed throughout the study. Bus Load MW
voltage MVAR
5 0.913 94.200 19.000
6 0.943 0.000 0.000
7 0.924 22.800 10.900
8 0.929 30.000 30.000
28 0.945 0.000 0.000

Table III.Real and Reactive Power Generation Without

Distributed Generation
Bus 1 2 13 22 23 27 Total
Real
Power 264.79 40.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 304.79
(MW)
Reactive
Power 89.37 25.68 4.55 45.05 0.00 21.39 186.04
(MVAR)

To assess the impact of distributed generation on the

Fig. 1. IEEE 30-bus power system [11]
system power losses and voltage profile, 10 cases were
considered. The details of these cases are shown in Table
4. For Case 9, two solar PV units each rated 10 MW are
connected into the system. While, in Case 10, four DG
units; each rated 5 MW; are connected at 4 different
busses. The solar panels and balance of systems
characteristics are not within the scope of the present
paper.
 2017 IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INTELLIGENT T ECHNIQUES IN CONTROL , OPTIMIZATION AND SIGNAL P ROCESSING

Table IV. Selected Dg Placement Locations On the other hand, the voltage levels in the busses listed
Case Location Description in Table II and shown in Fig.3, has improved by almost 1
Case 1 Bus 2 percent for busses 5, 7 and 8 and by less than 0.5% for
Case 2 Bus 3 busses 3, 6 and 28.
Case 3 Bus 4
Case 4 Bus 5
One unit rated 20 MW Voltage Deviation at busses 2-8 and at bus 28
Case 5 Bus 6 0.100

Case 6 Bus 7 0.090

Ref Case 1 Case 2
Case 7 Bus 8 Case 3 Case 4 Case 5
Case 8 Bus 28 0.080 Case 6
Case 9
Case 7
Case 10
Case 8

Bus 5 and 0.070

Case 9 One 10 MW unit at each bus
Bus 7 0.060
Busses 5
Case 10 One 5 MW unit at each bus
through 8 0.050

0.040

The power generation and power losses are listed in Table 0.030
V. As shown in Table V, Case 4, Case 5 and Case 9 have
the lowest power generation and the lowest power losses; 0.020

with Case 1 has the highest power generation and losses 0.010

of 303.74 MW and 19.92 MW, respectively. It is worth 0.000

mentioning that placing the distributed generation in bus 5 3 4 5 6 7 8 28

or bus 6 (Case 4 and Case 5) yielded the same values.
Fig.2 shows actual power losses of all cases including the
reference case and the relative power losses reduction
with the respect to the reference case, shown in solid
orange.
Fig 3. Impact of distributed generation on the voltage
levels for busses 3 through 8 and 28.
VII. CONCLUSION
In this paper, the authors presented a simple numerical
method to find the optimal location or locations of a
distributed solar photovoltaic power generation within a
standard distribution network. The Newton Raphson
based load flow method was without and with distribution
and proved effective for a system with a limited number
of busses. The ideal bus for placing distributed generation
were either bus 5 or bus 6, for which the impact on the
power losses and bus voltage improvement were identical.
Overall, test results indicated the positive impact of the 20
MW solar PV system on the 30-bus distribution systems
with power losses reduction as high as 15.30%

Further studies deem necessary such as sensitivity

Fig 2. Impact of distributed generation on power losses
analysis while considering the DG power factor and size.
for the different connection scenarios
Other studies would include the annual energy losses
reduction, energy losses savings and DG financial
Table V. Power Generation and Power Losses for
benefits, solar PV in this case including solar panel types,
all Cases with Distributed Generation
balance of system and maintenance requirements.
Reactive Power
Real Power (MW)
Case (MVAR)
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APPENDIX A: IEEE 30 BUS LINE DATA 25 26 0.2544 0.38 0.0
25 27 0.1093 0.2087 0.0
Line Line Impedance (p.u.) Half line 28 27 0.0 0.396 0.0
Charging 27 29 0.2198 0.4153 0.0
From To Resistance Reactance Susceptance 27 30 0.3202 0.6027 0.0
(p.u.)
29 30 0.2399 0.4533 0.0
1 2 0.0192 0.0575 0.0264
8 28 0.0636 0.2 0.0214
1 3 0.0452 0.1852 0.0204
6 28 0.0169 0.0599 0.065
2 4 0.057 0.1737 0.0184
3 4 0.0132 0.0379 0.0042
2 5 0.0472 0.1983 0.0209