Arrangement of Reactive Power Compensation Units in the Radial Distribution Network of Moscow Oblast

Distribution networks are the direct end-consumer connection part of an electric power system. With the development of technology, advent of new current-using equipment, and increasing population density, these networks are becoming increasingly more and more complex, elements more loaded, and power and voltage losses on the line more significant, which leads to violations of standard requirements. These problems are considered using the example of a section of the Moscow oblast network. The study presented in this article is part of the research project aimed to improve the quality of electric power in the distribution network by analyzing the current state and elaborating corrective steps. The measurements were taken using electric power quality analyzers at maximal and minimal loads. To overcome a high negative voltage deviation, the reactive power compensation unit is proposed. The procedure proposed in this article to solve the given problem consists of two phases. In phase one, loss sensitivity factors (LSFs) are defined and candidate nodes selected for installing the compensation units. This makes it possible to considerably reduce the area of searching for the optimization algorithm and, therefore, cut down the calculation time and improve the algorithm’s convergence. In phase two, the hybrid particle swarm technique is applied to optimally arrange the compensation units among the selected nodes, and choose their capacity. The hybrid optimization technique includes the particle swarm technique (PST) and the quasi-Newtonian algorithm applied after meeting the PST stopping criterion. The quasi-Newtonian algorithm is applied to cut down the time for executing iterations and making the PST more convergent. Numerical modelling is performed in the MATLAB software environment. The measurements in the distribution network of the Moscow oblast served to construct a design model with 111 nodes. According to the measurement results, the voltage level in the consumer coupling nodes considerably overrides the limits defined by GOST (State Standard) 32144–2013. Serious problems with electric power in the mains are connected with inadmissible values of established voltage deviation. The proposed hybrid algorithm of arranging reactive power compensation units makes it possible to reduce the losses of electric power in the mains, reduce the voltage deviation, and increase the line power factor.