Planning of distribution feeder reconfiguration with protective device coordination

An algorithm for planning distribution feeder reconfiguration that accounts for protective device coordination is presented. Distribution feeders are normally reconfigured with changing load patterns to achieve load balancing and loss reduction. To ensure that the protective devices are properly coordinated during feeder reconfigurations, the locations of the fuses for the distribution system under study are determined by using the proposed algorithm. A set of switchable regions within which switch operations are allowed for feeder reconfiguration is identified. Once the distribution system has been planned using the developed algorithm, the feeders can be reconfigured in real-time distribution system operation with all protective devices properly coordinated by changing the open/closed states of the switches in the switchable regions. The effectiveness of the approach is demonstrated by conducting feeder reconfiguration planning on a distribution network in the Taiwan power system.<>