Routing Optimization of Primary Rural Distribution Feeders

This paper deals with the problem of selecting the optimal route for a primary distribution feeder radiating from a rural substation at a given location and feeding a number of loads with known demands and locations. This is posed as an optimization problem of minimizing an objective cost function subject to voltage regulation, current carrying capacity, and meeting the load constraints. The case of a straight feeder with perpendicular branchings is first considered. Piecewise linear feeders are treated using linear programming and nonlinear optimization techniques. Comparison between the results achieved through the different models when applied to a typical feeder is included.