Optimization method for short circuit current reduction in extensive meshed LV network

Abstract

This paper focuses on the analysis of suitable optimization methods applied to large meshed low-voltage networks. The introduced methods aim to minimize the SC-current contribution by simultaneously fulfilling well-defined operational constraints. The high number of binary variables (134) used in the worst case to determine the possible network configurations generates 1040 possible solutions. For this reason, the paper focuses only on methods capable of reducing the necessary steady-state calculations to a tractable size. Depending on the case under study, the deterministic method turns to be faster than the other ones at the price of reaching only a local minimum. In contrast, if a longer computation time is tolerated, then evolutionary algorithms succeed in finding the global optimum.