Multi-criteria Reconfiguration of Distribution Electrical Networks for Minimization of Power Losses and Damage Cost due to Power Supply Interruption

The paper presents a reconfiguration method for electrical distribution networks under normal operating conditions. The method uses a multi-criteria objective function that considers economic related aspects: the cost of power losses and the cost of damages due to power supply interruption following some faults occurring into the distribution network. The restrictions of the optimization problem are related to arborescence, connectivity and the security of the electrical network subject to the thermal limit of the network branches and voltage level at the consumers. A heuristic method is applied to solve the mathematical model, which consists in searching into the solutions space based on a branch exchange strategy.