Network Reconfiguration for Electrical Loss Minimization

Suman Nath & Somnath Rana

Deptt. of Electrical Engineering, Bengal Engineering & Science University, Shibpur, India
E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract - Increasing requirements of urbanization, industrialization and modernization demands further expansion and development
of the national power grid and nonetheless, with a better efficiency and an enhanced voltage stability. The aim of this project is to
conceptualize and realize an electric transmission and distribution network with improved efficiency and voltage stability that will
contribute to the substantial reduction in the involved operational costs. Network Reconfiguration Methodology has been used. The
study of this work was conducted on IEEE 14 bus network with Matlab tool using Newton-Raphson Method. The study also deals
with how this technique can practically be implemented using Artificial Neural Network and sensors.
Keywords - Artificial Neural Network (ANN), L-Index value, Load-flow study, Network Reconfiguration, Newton Raphson method,
MATLAB.

I.

the power lines which connect various buses in a power

system. Restructuring of specific lines leads to alternate
system configurations. System reconfiguration can be
accomplished by placing line interconnection switches
into network. Opening and closing a switch connects
or disconnect a line to the existing network. If there are
N switches in a network, there are 2 possible switching
combinations. Improving transmission efficiency by
network reconfiguration involve study of switching
options which enhances voltage stability under a given
loading and generation condition .The improvement of
efficiency is achieved only by altering topological
structure of the power lines and does not involve any
additional hardware like installation of SVC, capacitor
bank, tap-changing transformers etc. The challenge in
the proposed method however lies with the task of
finding the optimum switching pattern that would
maximize the overall voltage stability of the system and
minimize the losses. The major benefits of network
reconfiguration are-

INTRODUCTION

Ideally, losses in an electric system should be

around 3 to 6%. In developed countries it is not more
than 10%. However, in developing countries like India,
the percentage of active losses is around 20%; therefore
the utilities in the electric sector are presently interested
in reducing it in order to have an edge in the
competition; since the electricity prices in the deregulated markets are related to the system losses. In
India, collective of all states, in 2008 the technical and
non- technical losses are accounted as 23% of the total
input energy.
To manage a loss reduction program in a
transmission and distribution system, it is necessary to
use efficient and effective computational tools like
MATLAB, Artificial Neural Network (ANN) etc. that
allow quantifying the loss in each different network
element for system losses reduction.

A. Efficient Electric Transmission.

II. CONCEPT OF NETWORK

RECONFIGURATION

B. Network reconfiguration improves the voltage

stability of the system.

Electric Transmission network losses are one of the

major concerns for electric power system. There are
several approaches are available for improvement of
Electric Transmission. This work deals with the
improvement of efficiency of Electric Transmission of a
power network by network reconfiguration. Network
reconfiguration is performed by reconfiguring the power
network. System reconfiguration means restructuring

C. Network reconfiguration also smoothens out the

peak demands, improving the voltage profile in the
feeders and increases network reliability.
D. Enhancement of voltage stability can be achieved
without any additional cost involved for installation
of capacitors, tap changing transformers and the
related switching equipment.

International Journal of Instrumentation, Control and Automation (IJICA) ISSN : 2231-1890 Volume-1, Issue-2, 2011

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Network Reconfiguration for Electrical Loss Minimization

and (5), respectively, must be greater than or equal to

zero. Thus,

III. CALCULATION OF LOSSES REDUCED

SINGLE LINE EQUIVALENT NETWORK
Consider the single-line system

( 2 x 2 PL 2 rxQ L + r ) 2 4 ( r 2 + x 2 ) *

r + jx

P + jQ

. (6)

P L + jQ

( 2 x 2 Q L 2 rxPL + x ) 2 4 ( r 2 + x 2 ) *

Fig. 1: Single line system

Parameters are,
P= injected real power
V= sending end voltage
x = reactance of line
PL = real load

... (7)
Simplifying equation (6) or (7), we obtain

4[( xPL rQ L ) 2 + xQ L + rPL ] 1

(2)

x ( P PL ) = r ( Q Q L )

P=

+ PLI

LOSS

LOSS

(9)

+ QLI
and

(10)

LOSS

are the total real and

reactive power losses in the system and

(3)

P LI &

are the total real and reactive loads,

Q LI

respectively.
By applying the single-line method for the
reduction of distribution network, the occurrence of
voltage collapse can be studied easily, and it is not
necessary to consider every line of the network
separately. By using the single-line method, the total
real and reactive powers can be found as

( r 2 + x 2 ) P 2 ( 2 x 2 PL 2 rxQ L ) P +
2

( x 2 PL + r 2 Q L 2 rxP L Q L + rPL ) = 0
(4)

P= rREQ ( P

And eliminating P from equation (1), a quadratic

equation in Q is obtained as

Q= x REQ ( P

( r + x ) Q ( 2 x Q L 2 rxPL ) Q +
2

LOSS

Where

On rearranging equation (3) and eliminating Q from

equation (1), a quadratic equation of P is obtained as

Q=

The voltage at sending is the reference voltage, and its

magnitude is kept constant. Hence, the sending end
voltage is assumed as 1 per unit.

(8)

For a given radial distribution net work, the total real

and reactive power can be computed as

(1)

From equation (1) & (2), we can eliminate

r ( P 2 + Q 2 ) terms by rearranging the equations and
V 2
obtain,

( x 2 PL + r 2 Q L 2 rxPL Q L + xQ L ) 0

Q = injected reactive power

r = resistance of the line
Q = reactive load

r(P 2 + Q 2 )
+ PL
P=
V2
x( P 2 + Q 2 )
Q=
+ QL
V2

( x 2 PL + r 2 Q L 2 rxP L Q L + rPL ) 0

+ Q 2 ) + PLI
2

+ Q 2 ) + QLI

(12)

Where rEQ and x EQ are the equivalent resistance and

( x 2 PL + r 2 Q L 2 rxPL Q L + rQ L ) = 0

reactance, respectively, in the single line.

.. (5)

Recalling equation (8), the stability index L can be

defined as

As equations (4) and (5) are in quadratic form, for P and

Q to have real roots, the discriminants of equations (4)

International Journal of Instrumentation, Control and Automation (IJICA) ISSN : 2231-1890 Volume-1, Issue-2, 2011

23

(11)

Network Reconfiguration for Electrical Loss Minimization

L= 4[(xPL

rQL ) + xQL + rPL ] .

2

L = 4[(xEQPLEQrEQQLEQ)

(13)

Hence, for a reduced single-line network, equation (13)

can be rewritten as
L= 4[(xEQ PEQ

rEQQEQ ) 2 + xEQQEQ + rEQ PEQ ] .

.. (14)
Where Pleq and Qleq are the total real and reactive

LOSS

{(PEQ + PLOSS) + (QEQ + QLOSS) }

2

x EQ =

4.

Estimate L for each switching combination.

5.

Analyze the results and find out which switching

combination gives the lowest value of L, i.e. the
best voltage stability.

The main advantages of this algorithm is

computation L-index involves losses so, if there any
change in switching combination or if there is any load
variation the losses will be affected and hence stability
of the system will change.

loads, respectively, in the distribution network. From

equations (9) to (12), the equivalent resistance and
reactance of a reduced single line network can be
defined as

rEQ =

+ xEQQLEQ+rEQPLEQ]

IV. ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK

(15)

Neural networks include the capability to map the

perplexed and extremely non-linear relationship
between the load levels of zone and system topologies.
This study adopts the multilayer feed forward which has
the ability of not only handling the analog/binary input
but also mapping complex input-output relationship
with hidden layer.

LOSS

{( PEQ + PLOSS ) 2 + (QEQ + QLOSS ) 2 }

(16)

It is noted that for a stable system, the value of

stability index, L is very much less than 1; however, if
the value of L approaches 1, this would indicate that the
system is close to voltage collapse. If the network is
loaded beyond this critical limit, the power becomes
imaginary, and it is at this point that the voltage collapse
occurs.

Output
Output layer
Hidden layer
Input layer

The efficient method of calculating L-index is by

reducing the given power system network to a single
line equivalent system. The basic algorithm can be
described as follows:

Operation: yi = wxi + b

1. Run the Load flow analysis program to obtain the

values of bus voltages and complex powers.

Its adaptation is defined through a cost function

(error metric) of the residual e = di (b + wxi) where di
is the desired input. With the MSE error metric,

2.

Estimate:

rEQ =

x EQ =
3.

Input
Fig2: Three Layer Feed-Forward Neural Network

{( PLEQ + PLOSS ) 2 + (Q LEQ + Q LOSS ) 2 }

N
i

ei2

and

{( PLEQ + PLOSS ) 2 + (Q LEQ + Q LOSS ) 2 }

rREQ

The adapted weight and bias become:

Q LOSS

From the above values of

1
2N

E=

PLOSS

and

xREQ

Estimate:

International Journal of Instrumentation, Control and Automation (IJICA) ISSN : 2231-1890 Volume-1, Issue-2, 2011

24

Network Reconfiguration for Electrical Loss Minimization

This is best utilized in the controls area. A single

neuron with tap delayed inputs (the number of inputs is
bounded by the lowest frequency present and the
Nyquist rate) can be used to determine the higher order
transfer function of a physical system via the bi-linear ztransform.

S Connection/disconnection switches (Additional

power lines connected to the system for the purpose of
network reconfiguration).
PROPOSED RECOFIGURATION SCHEME
Reconfiguration is the process of operating
connection/disconnection switches(S) to change the
circuit topology. Network reconfiguration is an
operation in configuration management that determines
the switching operations for improvement of the voltage
stability with minimum loss condition. System
reconfiguration means restructuring the power lines
which connect various buses in the power system.
Reconfiguration has been achieved by addition of three
power lines to the existing network. The number of
additional lines has been restricted to three owing to
economic considerations as increasing the number of
lines increases cost.

V. NETWORK RECONFIGURATION
TECHNIQUE ON A STANDARD IEEE-14 BUS
SYSTEM
Case study has been conducted on a modified IEEE14 bus system. The standard IEEE-14 bus system has
been modified with the addition of power lines which
connect various buses in the power system by
connection/disconnection switches. Also connection /
disconnection switches have been placed in series with
the existing lines. The system data are given in table1
and table2. The system under study is illustrated in fig1.
By closing or opening a switch, a line can be added or
removed from the system respectievely.0indicate
switch is open,1 indicate switch is closed.

VI. DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

In normal condition or base configuration of the
given system S1=0, S2=0, S3=0 i.e. all the
connection/disconnection switches are open. When N=3
nos. additional power lines are available, there may be
2 =8 different switching cases. All of these eight
possible switching combinations have been studied, and
each combination has been designated by a unique
configuration number. For example the configuration
code 1 indicates normal condition .In all cases of lines
and switching combinations, their corresponding system
configuration code with computed values of active
power loss, reactive power loss and L-index values have
been presented in the Chart1.

Network reconfiguration is done by two ways. One

way is that, the original power system network is not
changed but extra power lines are added to power
network by connection/ disconnection switches. Another
way of network reconfiguration is connection/
disconnection of already existing lines within the power
network. Present work deals with addition of extra lines
to the network.

The computed L-index value for normal system

configuration (configuration no. : 1), as observed from
the Chart1 is 0.08903. Many alternative system
configurations result lower value of L-index compared
to the normal configuration, and hence can improve
overall voltage stability. With simultaneous addition of
all the three power lines (S1=1, S2=1, S3=1;
configuration no.: 8) the L-index value is reduced to
0.06316. With variation of load, the optimum switching
combination also changes. The active and Reactive
power losses are minimized to a great extent as seen
from Tab.1.

Tab.1: Active and Reactive Power Losses in Optimum

Condition

GeneratorCapacitor
G

Under normal condition

After reconfiguration

Real
losses
(MW)

Reactive
losses
(Mvar)

Real
losses
(MW)

Reactive
losses
(Mvar)

26.261

10.870

12.493

13.393

Fig3: Modified IEEE-14 Bus system

International Journal of Instrumentation, Control and Automation (IJICA) ISSN : 2231-1890 Volume-1, Issue-2, 2011

25

Network Reconfiguration
R
for Electrical Loss Minimizatioon

Optimum conddition :System Configurationn 8

residentiial and lightingg loads. So, thhe peak load on

o the
substatioon and feederss occurs at diffferent times of
o the
day, the systems becom
me heavily loaaded at certain times
of the daay, and lightly loaded at som
me other times. If the
distributtion loads are rescheduled more
m
efficienttly by
networkk reconfigurattion, efficienccy of Distribbution
system can be improvved. Reconfigguration also allows
a
smootheening out the peak deman
nds, improvingg the
voltage profiles
p
at the buses and increasing the nettwork
reliabilitty.

ACTIVE POWER(MW)

Chart1:Active ,Reactive Pow

wer Loss and L-Index
L
Values for Diffferent System Configurationns

13.319
15 13.393
12.936
12.876
10.883
3
11.485 10.87
11.499
10
5

VIII. AP
PPLICATION
NS

0
1

Thee concept of network recoonfiguration caan be

successffully implemeented in the existing reall life
electric transmission networks (att different vooltage
levels) as
a it was donne for the stan
ndard IEEE 144 bus
system (which yieldeed encouragingg results; ) inn this
project. When implem
mented, it shaall reduce botth the
transmisssion line acttive and reacctive power losses
l
substanttially and enhaance the voltaage stability of
o the
system as
a well.

REACTIVE POWER(MVAR)

SYSTEM CONF
FIGURATION NUMBER
N

26
6.261

30
25

26.035

19.409
199.551

19.749

20

19.339

3
12.563

15

Thee network reeconfiguration concept cann be

somewh
hat extended too conceive thee concept of feeder
f
reconfig
guration in ellectric distribution networkks to
improvee the reliability indices. It willl be inconveniient to
use loadd flow analysis here. Howeever simulatioons to
obtain th
he optimal configuration can be carried out using
softwaree like ETAP etcc. There are otther methods ass well
where efficient
e
and effective
e
compputational tools like
Genetic Algorithm, A
Artificial Neuraal Network (A
ANN),
heuristicc algorithms eetc. are used for arriving tto the
optimal solution.

12.493

10
5
0
1

SYSTEM CONF
FIGURATION NUMBER
N

L-INDEX VALUES

0.3

Thee results obtainned from the load flow annalysis

demonsttrate that corr
rresponding to
o the various load
conditions, there exiist a unique optimal swittching
condition. Hence, seensors with in- built artificial
intelligence incorporaated in the eleectric system, shall
continuoously monitor the varying load
l
conditionns and
give the command to tthe series- paraallel combinatiion of
the loadd- sectionalizinng and tie swiitches to selecct and
operate the
t optimal sw
witching conditiion.

0.2426

0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1

0.08558
0.06316
0.065225
1
0.08581
0.06509
0
0.06273

0.0
08903

0.05
0

Artiificial Neural Networks aree designed too two

groups. The first leveel is to estimaate the properr load
level fro
om the load datta of each zonne, and the secoond is
to determ
mine the approopriate system
m topology from
m the
input loaad level.

SYSTEM CON
NFIGURATION NUMBER
N

VII. FEEDER
R RESTRUCT
TURING
Distributioon systems are normallyy configured
radially. From
m time to tiime, modifyinng the radial
structure of thhe feeders by changing
c
the ON/OFF
O
status
of the section
nalizing and tiee switches to transfer loads
from one feedder to another may
m significan
ntly REDUCE
the Distributioon losses. Disstribution systeems normally
have a com
mbination off industrial, commercial,

International Journal of Instrumentation,

I
, Control and Auutomation (IJICA
A) ISSN : 2231-1890 Volume-1
1, Issue-2, 2011

26

Network Reconfiguration for Electrical Loss Minimization

[1] A.Chakrabarti, B.E. (Hons.), M.Tech(Power),

Ph.D.(Tech.),C.Eng.,M.I.E. (I), M.I.E.E.E. (USA).
Professor, Bengal Engineering & Science
University, Shibpur.
[2] Abhinandan De, B.E. (Electrical Engg.), M.E.
(Electrical
Engg.),
Ph.D.
(Engg.).
Asst.
Professor,Bengal
Engineering
&
Science
University, Shibpur.

ACTIVE & REACTIVE POWER FROM METER

READING
LOAD COMPUTATION

[3] Amalendu Bikash Choudhury,

Professor,Bengal
Engineering
University, Shibpur.

ANN FOR LOAD LEVEL ESTIMATION

M.M.E Asst.
&
Science

REFERENCES
ANN FOR SYSTEM TOPOLOGY

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CONTROL STRATEGY DECISION

SWITCH CONTROL
Fig. 4 : Control Strategy

IX. FUTURE WORK

Large scale implementations of network
reconfiguration and feeder reconfiguration in power
system. Small scale isolated power generation at the
primary and secondary distribution levels to compensate
for the losses incurred in transmission and distribution.
Non conventional sources of energy like solar energy,
Small Hydro Projects (SHPs), Magneto Hydro Dynamic
(MHD) generation can be utilized for providing the
compensating electrical power. Extensive amount of
power electronic devices can be used to minimize
losses. Find out way to use of superconducting cables
such as comprising an insulated superconducting wire
cooled by liquid nitrogen. Methods for cooling
superconducting materials include a method in which
the superconducting material is formed into a braided
wire having a structure similar to that of a coaxial cable,
and the coolant is sealed inside the central hollow space
of the superconducting material. This can no doubt bring
a revolutionary change in the field of efficient electrical
distribution of power. Losses will become negligible.
Improved designs of the joints used in an electric system
(like splice joints) to minimize the thermal losses that
occur in the system. Aluminum alloys having improved
electrical properties like lower resistivity, lower
temperature- coefficient of resistance etc. to minimize
the thermal losses in the ACSR and AAAC conductors.
X. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

International Journal of Instrumentation, Control and Automation (IJICA) ISSN : 2231-1890 Volume-1, Issue-2, 2011

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Network Reconfiguration for Electrical Loss Minimization

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International Journal of Instrumentation, Control and Automation (IJICA) ISSN : 2231-1890 Volume-1, Issue-2, 2011

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