Arya Abdolahi - Tabriz Electrical Distribution Company, Tabriz, Iran
Rahim Ajabi Farshbaf - Tabriz Electrical Distribution Company, Tabriz, Iran
Abolfazl Abbaspour - Tabriz Electrical Distribution Company, Tabriz, Iran
Mohammad Khodayari - Tabriz Electrical Distribution Company, Tabriz, Iran

Achieving high distribution-reliability levels and concurrently minimizing operating costs are as the main issues in distribution system optimization. Determination of the optimal number and location of remote control switches (RCS) in the distribution system network is an essential issue from the reliability and economic points of view. To address these issues, this paper develops a novel multiobjective model from the distribution system viewpoint, wherein the primary objective, optimal RCS placement is implemented aiming at minimizing the operating costs, while in the second objective, the reliability index improvement is taken into account. So, a novel approach from a robust heuristic algorithm, modified non dominated sorting genetic algorithm (MNSGA-II), is developed and presented to solve this multiobjective mixed-integer non-linear programming problem. Simulation results received by the genetic algorithm have been compared with the other popular optimization algorithms, seperately. Results show that the proposed algorithm provides extensively the best performance, in terms of quality of the answer received and computational efficiency. The feasibility of the proposed algorithm was examined by application to two distribution feeders of the Tabriz city distribution network containing the fourth feeder of the TractorSazai substation.

Distribution automation, Modified NSGA-II, Reliability, RCS placement, Distribution system operation