A Multi-Objective GRASP Procedure for Reactive Power Compensation Planning


Abstract

A multi-objective approach based on the GRASP (Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedure) meta-heuristic is proposed to provide decision support in the problem of locating and sizing capacitors for reactive power compensation in electrical radial distribution networks. The installation of capacitors (local sources of reactive power) in the network is aimed at correcting the power factor to improve the quality of service, particularly the network voltage profile, and reduce energy losses and power peak. The mathematical model explicitly considers two conflicting objective functions: the minimization of the network active losses and the minimization of the capacitor installation cost. An algorithmic approach based on GRASP is presented for the characterization of the non-dominated solution set.