Optimal Allocation of Shunt Capacitors and DG Units in Distribution Systems Operating Under Non-Sinusoidal Conditions using GA

In this paper, optimal allocation of shunt capacitors and distributed generation (DG) units are discussed considering electrical harmonic problems. To specify the harmonic-based parameters, harmonic power flow was employed by using the decoupled harmonic power flow approach (DHPF), then the allocation of shunt capacitors was done, and its results were discussed. After analyzing the results of capacitors installation, DG units were added to the system to observe the effect of their presence and the allocation process was done to search for the best value and location for these DG units simultaneously with the capacitors' allocation and with the existence of nonlinear loads in the distribution system. The genetic algorithm optimization technique was applied for the optimization. The objective function is the minimization of the active power losses taking into consideration the constraints of IEEE Std. 519–2014 in harmonically distorted systems. Hosting Capacity (HC) is discussed and its value was recorded in the results. This work was employed on IEEE 18-bus and 33-bus systems working at non-sinusoidal conditions. The results of GA were compared to the other algorithms commonly used in solving such problems.