Capacitor planning of power systems with wind generators and PV arrays

Renewable energy sources are becoming more and more important for power systems. With increasing sizes and a mandate to operate as financial entities seeking to maximize benefits in an electricity market, power systems require highly effective planning tools. In this paper, an optimal capacitor planning method based on optimal power flow is proposed for a power system with wind generators and PV arrays. The system is formulated as a mixed nonlinear integer problem (MNIP). This method is not only to minimize the total system cost, but also to minimize the system losses. The capacitor cost function, which considers the lifetime of capacitors and interest rate for financing the installed capacitors, is also developed in this paper.