Optimal scheduling of vegetation maintenance underneath overhead power distribution lines

The contact between vegetation and the power distribution lines is one of the major causes of interrupting the power service supply. In this paper, two new mathematical models are presented, and they are characterized by having monobjective function. The first one minimizes the non served energy level (NSEL) due to vegetation related failures in a power distribution system, and it is subjected to a set of constraints that include equipment availability, maximum number of vegetation pruning in a section of the system and the reliability constrain in the service. The second one has an objective function that works to minimize the average percentage of violation in the security zone which contains the minimum distance between the power lines and the vegetation. The results of the implementation by using Chu-Beasley Genetic Algorithm include the NSEL, the average percentage of violation in the security zone and the maintenance cost of the vegetation transferred to actual value, as well as the maintenance scheduling in a test system.