Optimal Distributed Generation placement in a restructured environment via a multi-objective optimization approach

The increasing use of electrical energy in nowadays modern societies and industries has brought about a sharp need for more efficient means of electricity generation. It seems rather logical to increase the electricity production proportional to the increasing rate of the demand. Distributed Generation (DG) has been recently accepted to be one of the most efficient means of electricity generation, particularly near to the load centers. The DG has been also considered in the generation expansion planning of power systems. In this paper, three main factors associated with the DGs placement procedure is scrutinized through a multi-objective optimization approach. One of the main factors considered in this paper is the network loss. The costs associated with the investment, operation, and maintenance of the DGs, together with the reliability worth and customer interruption cost are the other two criteria to be investigated in this paper. A multi-objective optimization approach is then proposed and the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGAII) as a convenient tool to deal with such a problem is utilized. The methodology well proves its applicability and efficiency by being applied to a real electric power distribution system.