Simultaneous distribution of controllable switches and DGs considering environmental effects: a case study

A key advantage of distributed generations (DGs) utilizing renewable energy is their environmental friendliness, which plays a crucial role in diminishing the ecological contamination from conventional power stations. Moreover, the use of controllable switches (CSs) in distribution networks can enhance the contribution of DGs to the improvement of system reliability. Therefore, this research explores how the simultaneous use of CSs and DGs can increase system reliability by creating intentional islands. The paper's primary focus is on limiting the permissible capacity of DGs to guarantee the proper functioning of CSs installed upstream under any circumstances. To achieve this, the cost function is formulated as the costs related to the purchase and installation of DGs and CSs, their maintenance and operation, buying power from the upstream grid and DGs, energy losses, energy not supplied, and most importantly environmental expenses resulting from pollutants emitted by traditional power plants. A modified GA-based method presents to determine the optimum location and capacity of DGs and CSs. Furthermore, acknowledging the significance of modeling both load and generation, a multilevel approach has been employed for consumer load modeling, alongside a probabilistic multilevel model for DGs. The proposed method's effectiveness and practicality were validated through various scenario designs and simulations on a 33-bus distribution network.