Increasing RES Hosting Capacity in Distribution Networks Through Closed-Loop Reconfiguration and Volt/VAr Control

This article presents a novel mixed-integer second-order cone programming model to increase the photovoltaic (PV) hosting capacity and optimize the operation of distribution networks. The problem considers voltage and reactive (Volt/VAr) control through the optimal operation of capacitors banks, substations’ on-load tap changers, voltage regulators, and network reconfiguration with radial and closed-loop operation topologies. The proposed formulation considers voltage-dependent models for loads and capacitor banks. The objective function maximizes the PV hosting capacity of the network. Numerical experiments are carried out using the 33-node and the 85-node networks. Results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed formulation to increase the penetration of PV sources, especially when the closed-loop operation is allowed, together with network reconfiguration and Volt/VAr control.