Distribution network reliability enhancement for minimizing penalty cost

This research´s focus is on the description and solution of one of the distribution companies (DISCOs) optimization problems in a restructured power system. In this paper it is assumed according to the contract, DISCOs must pay a penalty cost (PC) to its customers if any interruption happens in the service continuity. Determination of minimum PC configuration based on reconfiguration using Binary Genetic Algorithm (BGA) is suggested. Test results based on a typical sample network have shown that the proposed feeder reconfiguration method can effectively reduce the PC value in the network, and the BGA technique is efficient in searching for the optimal solution.