Selection of Optimal Location and Rated Power of Capacitor Banks in Distribution Network using Genetic Algorithm

In this paper, the problem of placement and rated power of capacitor banks in the Distribution Network (DN) is considered. We try to suggest the best places for installing capacitor banks and define their reactive power. The considered formulation requires the optimization of the cost of two different objectives. Therefore the use of properly multiobjective heuristic optimization methods is desirable. To solve this problem we use a heuristic method such as Genetic Algorithm. The first goal is to achieve a voltage level in every nodes of the power network on requied level. The second goal is to limit the cost connected with buying and installing capacitors. Finally, numerical results on a distribution system demonstrate that the proposed formulation and approach are effective and feasible for finding an optimal plecement of capacitor banks.