A new hybrid algorithm for multi-objective distribution feeder reconfiguration considering reliability

Reducing electricity losses is the main objective in distribution feeder reconfiguration (DFR) problem. Distribution feeder reconfiguration is an optimization problem in power system which is performed through changing switching state. In this study, distribution feeder reconfiguration is optimized in the presence of distributed generators (DGs). In common DFR problems, reliability constraint is not satisfied and power losses or voltage deviation of buses is selected as the objective function. In this study, multi-objective problem is considered as a combination of reliability along with power losses. By adding reliability, the problem becomes more complex and requires an accurate method for solving multi-objective optimization problem. For this purpose, in this paper proposed a new hybrid evolutionary algorithm for solving the DFR problem. The proposed hybrid evolutionary algorithm is the combination of PSO (particle swarm optimization) and SFLA (shuffled frog leaping algorithm), called Improved particle swarm optimization (IPSO). In order to investigate efficiency of the proposed method, two 33-bus and 70-bus test systems are tested and the results are compared with GA and PSO algorithms.