A two-stage approach on island partitioning of power distribution networks with distributed generation

Island operation of a fraction of power distribution network with distributed generators (DGs) is considered an efficient operational paradigm to enhance the security of power supply. This paper attempts to address the issue of island partitioning in distribution network with the penetration of small-scale DGs and present a two-stage algorithmic solution. In the suggested solution, the CSP-based method is firstly adopted to create a collection of network partitioning results in respect to individual DGs meeting the imposed constraints from the distribution network which can be carried out in an offline fashion assuming the fault occurrence at certain points. Aiming to identify the optimal partitioning solution, the heuristic simulate anneal arithmetic (SAA) algorithmic design was employed. Through such two-stage approach, the process of optimal island partitioning can be obtained with acceptable time complexity in large-scale power distribution networks. The proposed partitioning solution is assessed through a set of numerical comparative study with the IEEE 69-bus test model by using two available solutions as the comparison benchmark. The numerical result demonstrates that the proposed solution performs well in terms of guaranteeing the reliable supply of essential power loads as well as improving the utilization efficiency of distributed generations.