Cost sustainability analysis of distributed generation and network configuration in a distribution network

This paper is a study on the cost sustainability analysis of network reconfiguration and distributed generation applied to the Azare distribution network in Nigeria. Particle swarm optimization was the heuristic algorithm employed. When only network reconfiguration was applied to minimize losses, the power loss in the network reduced by 23.39% to 212.80kW with 92% loading. In addition, the minimum voltage profile in the network improved from 0.9052 to 0.9214. Furthermore, when both reconfiguration and distributed generation were engaged in loss minimization in the distributed network, power loss reduced by 61.94% to 84.93kW at 0.92 load. While the minimum voltages in the network improved from 0.9052 to 0.9745. Lastly, when both network reconfiguration and distributed generation were employed to minimize energy losses in the distribution network, the annual energy savings amounted to 1,211.15MWh at 92% loading of the network capacity. The resulting annual financial gains from the energy savings in this scenario turned out as N36.10million ($120,347.65). When the network is operated at 92% capacity all year round, the financial savings afore-mentioned are sufficient to cover the annual operational cost of solar PV distributed generators as well as recover the capital investment in distributed generation with a payback period of less than five years.