An improved metaheuristic method for simultaneous network reconfiguration and distributed generation allocation

A new chaotic search group algorithm (CSGA) is proposed in this study for simultaneous network reconfiguration and allocation of distributed generation (SNR-DG) problem with the objective of minimum real power loss in the radial distribution network (RDN). The CSGA is an improved metaheuristic algorithm, in which a chaotic local search strategy is incorporated with the original SGA, to enhance its search performance. The proposed CSGA was studied on 33-, 69-, 84- and 118-bus RDNs with three load levels. After SNR-DG application, the voltage profile and real power loss of the system had enhanced significantly. The outcomes yielded by CSGA were compared with those obtained from the original SGA and other techniques depicted in the literature. The comparative findings revealed that CSGA yielded better solution quality than SGA and other techniques. Hence, CSGA is the best technique to address the SNR-DG problem in RDNs.