Optimal capacitor placement in radial distribution systems using clustering based optimization

• We present an algorithm for fixed shunt capacitor placement and sizing in distribution systems.
• The presented algorithm is search based, its results are repetitive and computation time is very short.
• We minimize active power losses and sum of costs for power and energy losses and capacitor costs.
• We compare the algorithm with other methods and we show that it has better results.

A Clustering Based Optimization (CBO) for the discrete optimisation problem of fixed shunt capacitor placement and sizing is presented. We minimize the sum of costs for power/energy losses and capacitor costs. Over-compensation and voltage constraints are also taken into consideration. CBO is based on a simple search which iteratively loops through network buses and places capacitors at locations that yield maximum reduction of losses in the objective function.The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated on a 22-bus, 34-bus, 69-bus and 85-bus distribution systems. The CBO results are better than the results from other methods from recent papers which include: Fuzzy Genetic Algorithm (FGA), Direct Search Algorithm (DSA), Teaching Learning Based Optimization (TLBO), Cuckoo Search (CS), Self Adaptive Harmony Search Algorithm (SAHSA) and Artificial Bee Colony (ABC). In addition, for all cases, the proposed method gives repetitive and unique results in significantly shorter computation time.