A Multi-Population Genetic Algorithm to solve multi-objective remote switches allocation problem in distribution networks

This paper presents a Multi-Population Genetic Algorithm to solve the switches allocation problem in electric distribution networks considering remote and manual switches. In the procedure, reliability index, remote or manual controlled switch and investments costs are considered. The problem is formulated as a multi-objective optimization problem to be solved trough of weighted sum method. This method obtains the optimal solution considering a priori articulation of preferences established by the decision maker in terms of an aggregating function which combines individual objective values into a single utility value. A 282-bus test system is presented. The results confirm the efficiency of the proposed method which makes it promising to solve complex problems of switches placement in electric distribution feeders.