Application of flower pollination algorithm for placement of distribution transformers in a low-voltage grid

This paper presents an application of flower pollination algorithm for the decision support of distribution transformer placement in a low-voltage grid. The study starts with the model formulation by taking the level of customer satisfaction, transformer installation cost, and energy loss into consideration. It is followed by the application of flower pollination algorithm such that the site decision can be well guided through this optimization technique. To validate the effectiveness of the approach, the method has been tested through an example system with comparisons to other published methods. The test outcome demonstrates the satisfactory computation performance, supporting the feasibility of the method for the application to a grid system that is considered.