GENETIC ALGORITHM FOR PLACEMENT OF IEDs FOR FAULT LOCATION IN SMART DISTRIBUTION GRIDS

The digital transition of the distribution grid management and operation requires efficient and reliable intelligent electronic devices (IEDs). Appropriate placement of IEDs in the distribution grid is crucial to guarantee high resilience, e.g. through remote monitoring, control and automation, and provide a high security of supply. In this paper, a novel approach for a cost-efficient placement of IEDs for fault location in radial distribution grids is proposed, which takes into account that IEDs might fail or are disconnected from the control system (e.g., Distribution Management System (DMS)). Genetic Algorithm is applied to solve the optimisation problem, with the objective to minimize the total annual cost, which is a compromise between the interruption costs (Cost of Energy Not Supplied), and the yearly expenses of the IEDs installed and their availability. To demonstrate the applicability, the method is tested on the IEEE 33-bus radial distribution system. The results demonstrate the efficiency of the method in supporting decision-making over different investment scenarios, and performing sensitivity analysis over IEDs' cost, taking into considerations the availability of the IEDs in a DMS.