Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 384–397

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Electrical Power and Energy Systems

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijepes

Optimal capacitor placement in radial distribution system using

Gravitational Search Algorithm
Y. Mohamed Shuaib a,d, M. Surya Kalavathi b, C. Christober Asir Rajan c,⇑
a
Faculty in Dept. of EEE, B.S. Abdur Rahman University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
b
JNTUH College of Engineering, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
c
Pondicherry Engineering College, Pondicherry, India
d
Research Scholar, JNTUH College of Engineering, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Power generated in generating station is transmitted through transmission lines and fed to the consum-
Received 2 July 2013 ers through distribution substation. The power distributed into the network has losses, which is greater
Received in revised form 7 July 2014 in distribution system compared to transmission system. This problem could be addressed by placing
Accepted 11 July 2014
capacitor at strategic location due to which the kW loss can be minimized and the net savings can be
Available online 13 August 2014
maximized. This paper adopts two methods where the first method being the sensitivity analysis and
the second method is the Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA). Sensitivity analysis is a methodical tech-
Keywords:
nique, which is used to reduce the search space and to arrive at an accurate solution for recognizing the
Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA)
Capacitor placement (CP)
locality of capacitors. Capacitor values are allocated for the respective locations using GSA. The overall
Radial Distribution Network (RDN) precision and dependability of the adopted approach were authenticated and verified on few radial dis-
Loss Sensitivity Factor (LSF) tribution network with diverse topologies of varying sizes and complexities and also compared with an
Sensitivity analysis analytical Interior Point algorithm and one of the meta-heuristic optimization technique called Simulated
kW Loss Annealing. Computational outcomes obtained showed that the proposed method is capable of generating
optimal solutions.
Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Introduction
Distribution networks are usually planned radial in structure.
Radial Distribution Network (RDN) involves diverse loads like
industrial, commercial, domestic, etc., The Load profile of the
demands will fluctuate from time to time and possibly will cause
imbalance power flow in the line and may lead to voltage collapse
on account of low voltages. When there is a more active power loss
in the RDN, the voltage in the buses may break up the voltage con-
straint. This can affect the quality of power supply and the stability
of the network. The fall in the voltage at the buses and the power
losses are due to the lack of reactive power. One of the ways and
means to sustain the security and reliability of the network is to
provide reactive power compensation in RDN. This can be achieved
by optimally locating the capacitors of various optimal ratings at
different candidate buses of RDN. Capacitor Banks are commonly
employed to provide reactive power compensation in distribution
network. The installation of capacitor banks involves determina-
tion of size (kVAr ratings), location of capacitors. Selecting the best
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: asir_70@pec.edu (C. Christober Asir Rajan).
location for the capacitor will reduce the requirement of the reac-
tive power, which consequently maximizes the net savings and
also used to maintain voltage profile within permissible limits.
To find out the potential locations for compensation, Loss Sensitiv-
ity Factors (LSFs) are used. These factors are computed using sen-
sitivity analysis. Using LSF, the candidate number of buses are
recognized. Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA) employed in this
paper is to choose the optimized capacitor settings to be installed
in the respective candidate buses which are obtained through LSF.
In 1981, Grainger and Lee [1,2] developed a procedure based on
Equal Area Criterion to optimize the net savings associated with
the minimization of the power losses by placing shunt capacitor
on primary distribution feeders. This literature discussed only the
economic benefits due to capacitor placement. Voltage constraint
was not taken into account. Civanlar and Grainger [3–5] in the year
1985, decoupled the capacitor problem from the voltage regulation
problem in which the two decoupled problems are expressed as
two independent optimization problems. The general formulation
of the volt/var design problem involved the optimal real-time
control of the ON/OFF switched capacitors and voltage regulators.
Economic benefits were also achieved through both regulation
and compensation schemes. During 1989, Baran & Wu [6-18]
formulated location, type, size of capacitors, voltage constraints

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijepes.2014.07.041
0142-0615/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 Y. Mohamed Shuaib et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 384–397
and load variations as a mixed integer programming problem
which decomposed the problem into a master & a slave problem.
The former is used to determine the location of capacitors and
the latter is used to define the type and size of the capacitors.
The authors of [6] framed capacitor sizing problem as a non-linear
programming problem [7] later in the same year and contributed a
computationally proficient & mathematically stable solution tech-
nique called Dist-Flow method for distribution networks with large
r/x ratio branches.
The success of Tabu Search (TS) method [9] to solve the combi-
natorial optimization problem was applied to capacitor placement
problem as a non-differentiable objective function by Huang &
Yang in 1996, in which the capacitor sizes as well as control
schemes are treated as discrete decision variables. During Septem-
ber 1999, Goswami et al. [10] jointly exemplified the optimization
problem by adopting the heuristics and greedy search technique in
order to curtail the losses in radial distribution network. Unlike in
the methods where the capacitors are allocated on an individual
feeder in which only real power losses in the feeder are considered,
Kalyuzhny et al. [11] presented a system approach relied on
Genetic Algorithm (GA) to find the optimum capacitor allocation
solution for the system of feeders fed through their transformer
and not meant for any discrete feeder. Das, in his work [12] consid-
ered the capacitors as a constant impedance load instead of assum-
ing it as a constant reactive power load. In 2004, Ghose & Goswami
[13] represented combinatorial optimization problem using Simu-
lated Annealing (SA) Technique and GA to solve the discrete size of
available capacitors and the variation of load during a day. In the
same year Yu et al. [15] addressed the similar problem by consid-
ering the harmonic distortion and solved the same based on Parti-
cle Swarm Optimization (PSO) approach. Ying-Tung Hsiao et al.
[16] had analyzed the fuzzy technique and integrated the perfor-
mance of fuzzy method with genetic algorithm to address the
capacitor placement problem in distribution systems. Ji-Pyng Chiou
et al. [17] extended their research towards the large scale distribu-
tion system by means of variable scaling hybrid differential evolu-
tion with the intention of placing the capacitors to lessen the losses
in the distribution network. In [18], network reconfiguration algo-
rithm based on fuzzy multi-objective approach and the max-min
principle is followed for the multi-objective optimisation in a fuzzy
frame work. The real power loss minimisation is considered by the
authors S. Savier and D. Das for the 69 bus test system. The data for
the test system is also clearly given in this paper and it is also made
used in the solution of the capacitor placement problem by the
proposed method. Jabr [19] formulated the problem in two Phases
where in Phase-I, the global solution is attained by considering
every buses are candidates for capacitor placement whose sizes
are treated as continuous variables and in Phase-II, the practical
optimal solution is found by considering the sizes of capacitors
as discrete variables. In view of the authors of [16], D. Das [20]
has correspondingly adopted the method of hybriding fuzzy with
genetic algorithm to achieve the global optimal solution while also
keeping the voltage at load buses within the specified limit. Huang
et al. [21] in the year modeled fuzzy sets to replicate the ambigu-
ous nature of objectives and incorporated multiple design necessi-
ties to find out a set of non-inferior solutions instead of any single
aggregated optimal solution by removing the need for any user-
defined weight factor to aggregate all objectives.
Bhattacharya and Goswami [23] developed new fuzzy member-
ship functions in which the real power membership is an exponen-
tial function of the nodal per unit real power and real power line
loss and the reactive membership function is a function of nodal
reactive power and reactive power line loss. Cheng-Chien Kuo
[24] proposed an interactive bi-objective programming technique
in association with the appreciated trade off methodology to
385
address the placement of capacitor and sizing problem so as to
minimize the active power loss in radial distribution network.
Segura et al., adapted a new strategy [26] in which the authors
relaxed the integral function of the discrete variables to develop
a mathematical model based on nonlinear programming problem
which is solved using a specialized Interior Point. The proposed
technique integrated a supplementary approach of local search
that facilitates the outcome of a group of quality solutions after
small amendments in the optimization stratagem. During 2011,
Srinivasas Rao et al. [27] proposed a method that does not require
any external control parameters by handling the objective function
and the constraints separately which eases the burden of deter-
mining the barrier factors. Mohkami et al. [28] stretched the work
by also considering the network total harmonic distortion (THD)
index and the deviance of the voltage fundamental component
from the acceptable value in addition to minimization of overall
energy loss costs and capacitor fitting cost. Using fuzzy sets, a
membership degree was consigned to each parameter since the
parameters did not have similar units and variation ranges. The
authors of [29,30] in the same year 2011, carried out similar
research but prescribing two different optimization techniques to
state the optimal location of capacitor problem and sizing of shunt
capacitors in radial distribution systems in which the former
adapted Bacterial Foraging Algorithm (BFA) based on Fuzzy logic
and the latter is based on Harmony Search Algorithm (HAS).
González et al. [31] overcame the limitations of precluding the
application of real capacitor allocation problems to single-ended
networks through Extended Dynamic Programming (EDP)
Approach in which multi-dimensional data’s are projected into
equivalent one-dimensional representations. Capacitive compen-
sation was carried out by Raju et al. [32] using Direct Search Algo-
rithm (DSA) wherein the potential spots in the network for a
specific size of capacitor are searched and discrete-sized capacitors
are placed at the bus which contributes the least I2R loss. A two
stage method [33] was recommended by Abul’Wafa in the year
2013 to discuss the problem of determining the optimal location
by means of loss sensitivity technique and size of capacitors using
GA. In the same month of 2013, El-Fergany [34], hybrided Differen-
tial Evolution (DE) with Pattern Search (PS) to form a meta-heuris-
tic optimization tool for solving the objective function. The author
had initiated DE with an initial random population with default
settings to generate a new starting point to be exploited by PS
where the performance of PS is extremely reliable on the starting
point. Due to which the problem is handled using both determin-
istic and stochastic methodologies of diverse complications.
El-Fergany sustained to spread out his research with other
authors [35,37,39] to answer the problem and found to be capable
of generating best solutions with decent performance of conver-
gence and proven practicality with the help of different heuristic
and Artificial intelligent procedures. Franco et al. [36] guaranteed
a reliable convergence to the optimality of the solution technique
which uses Mixed-Integer Linear Model (MILM) in which the
steady state operation of a RDN is modeled over and done with lin-
ear expressions. Very Recently, Sultana and Roy [38] offered an
innovative variant of meta-heuristic optimization method termed
Teaching Learning Based Optimization (TLBO) which is stimulated
by the usual prodigy of teaching and learning procedure is a simple
and competent technique for explaining non-linear optimization
problem. Some of the hindrances in solving an acyclic systems
and RDN using Mixed Integer Non-Linear Programming (MINLP)
approach were eradicated by adjusting the control parameters of
MINLP to adapt it to solve a radial/mesh distribution network. This
has been achieved by Nojavan et al. in his work [40]. Abul’Wafa
[41] extended his preceding work wherein the combination of
Fuzzy Expert System (FES) for Capacitor placement and Real Coded
386 Y. Mohamed Shuaib et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 384–397

Genetic Algorithm (RCGA) for capacitor sizing is presented in order Load flow algorithmic steps
to improve the voltage stability in distribution system.
In the light of the above progresses, this paper presents an Step 1: Read system data structure.
optimization technique called Gravitational Search Algorithm Step 2: Go-to slack bus.
(GSA), which has been developed as the solution technique for Step 3: Initialize Pacc = 0 and Qacc = 0.
capacitor placement & sizing problem. The application of GSA Step 4: Calculate P and Q for all buses.
for minimization of active power losses in RDN is formulated Step 5: Calculate Vj and dj for all buses using Eqs. (1) and (2).
as an objective problem subject to operational and electrical Step 6: Find Ploss and Qloss for all lines.
constraints. A load flow program was developed and the Step 7: Update Pacc & Qacc using the formula Pacc = Ploss + Pj;
algorithm based on [14] is used to compute the power flow. Qacc = Qloss + Qj.
Then it is integrated into GSA for determining the ratings of Step 8: Proceed to next bus and continue the step from 4 to 8 up
capacitors to be installed in RDN. The distribution networks until Last bus is reached.
presented by Baran and Wu [6,7], Das et al. [8] and Khode Step 9: Check for convergence using Eqs. (3) and (4) and print
et al. [22] are used to demonstrate the reliability and efficacy the result, otherwise go-to step 2.
of the proposed algorithm.
This paper is organized as follows: Section ‘Load flow’ describes Convergence criteria
load flow. Section ‘Mathematical problem statement’ delivers the In this load flow, it is checked whether the sum of powers flow-
mathematical model of the problem. Section ‘Sensitivity analysis’ ing out of the lines connected to each bus equals (or equals within
explains the sensitivity analysis. Gravitational Search Algorithm a tolerable limit) the net power injected into that bus. Mathemat-
and its ability to solve the optimization problem are discussed in ically, convergence standards for the adopted load flow is given in
Section ‘Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA)’. Overview of test Eqs. (3) and (4) [14].
systems and the result analysis are done in the Sections ‘Overview " #
of test systems and Result analysis’ respectively. And finally this X
ðPGi  PDi Þ  ðV i V j Y ij cosðdi  dj  hij ÞÞ  e ð3Þ
paper is concluded in Section ‘Conclusion’ which is followed by
j
the References and Appendix.
" #
X  
Load flow ðQGi  QDi Þ  V i V j Y ij sin di  dj  hij e ð4Þ
j
To meet the present-day emerging domestic, industrial and
commercial load, operative forecasting of the RDN is essential. To
ensure the effective planning with load transferring, the load flow Mathematical problem statement
study of RDN becomes utmost significant. Load flow analysis is
concerned with describing the operating state of an entire power Total active and reactive power loss
system. Newton–Raphson and fast decoupled load flow solution
techniques are used to solve well-behaved power system. However The kW and kVAr losses in the line between mth and nth bus is
these are unsuitable to conduct load flow study in RDN due to low given by,
X/R ratios of branches.
A section of RDN has a sending end bus (ith bus) and receiving
½Pn 2 þ ½Q n 2
pmnðlossÞ ¼  Rmn ð5Þ
end bus (jth bus). The line connecting two sections has an imped- ½V m 2
ance (Z = r + jx). The power flow at the sending end bus (Si = Pi + jQi)
is equal to the total effective active and reactive powers supplied ½Pn 2 þ ½Q n 2
beyond the bus ‘j’ ðP effj þ jQ effj Þ plus the local load and the line loss Q mnðlossÞ ¼  X mn ð6Þ
½V m 2
between the buses ‘i’ and ‘j’.
A load flow algorithm [14] solves the power balance equations The total kW and kVAr losses of RDN having ‘N’ buses and
at all buses and finds the corresponding voltage solution has been ‘N  1’ branches is given by,
adopted in this work. At load buses, the load flow algorithm will
X
1nN
solve for the bus voltage magnitude and phase angle. The known PT;loss ¼ PmnðlossÞ ð7Þ
parameters at a load bus are the received real and reactive powers. 1mN
m–n
Hence a load flow must solve for the bus voltage magnitude
according to Eq. (1) [14] and phase angle, Eq. (2) [14].
X
1nN

vffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi Q T;loss ¼ Q mnðlossÞ ð8Þ

" # u !2 1mN
V 2i u V2 m–n

V 2j ¼  rP j þ xQ j  þ t rP j þ xQ j  i  ½r 2 þ x2 ½P2j þ Q 2j 
2 2
ð1Þ Objective function for capacitor placement problem in RDN

  The objective is to minimize the annual cost incurred due to kW

1 xPj  rQ j
dj ¼ di  sin
V iV j
If the voltage magnitude and phase angle values are to be com-
puted for the receiving end bus, the only variables needed are the
receiving end bus real and reactive power values, the sending end
bus voltage magnitude and phase angle value, and the value of the
line impedance connecting the two buses. All the values needed for
the load bus calculations are easily attainable in practice.
ð2Þ losses and the annual cost due to capacitor installations, subjected
to certain operating constraints. The objective function does not
include the operation and maintenance costs of the capacitor
placed in RDN. This is attained by finding out the best set of candi-
date buses to install capacitor banks such that the subsequent RDN
experiences least kW loss and has the best voltage profile. Dealing
with the placement of fixed capacitor and related sizing problem is
an optimization problem concerned with discrete variables and the
 Y. Mohamed Shuaib et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 384–397
same will be addressed using sensitivity analysis and Gravitational
Search Algorithm.
The mathematical statement of the problem can be conveyed by
the following expression.
20 1 3
X
1nN h i
Minimize F 4@ PmnðlossÞ A  K p5
þ K cfc
1mN
m–n
Subject to the voltage constraint given in (10),
Voltage constraints will be taken into justification by stipulat-
ing the Lower and Upper bound between Vmin = 0.95 p.u. and
Vmax = 1.0 p.u.
V min 6 jV i j 6 V max
The first term in the Eq. (9) is the product of total kW loss in the sys-
tem and the annual cost disbursed for per unit of kW loss (Cost/kW)
and the second term is the product of the cost of capacitor spent for
one unit of kVAr (Cost/kVAr) and the fixed capacitor bank rating
placed at a candidate bus (kVAr).
Sensitivity analysis
Sensitivity analysis [9,27] has been considered in order to
reduce the search space and to arrive at an accurate solution for
recognizing the locality. The sensitivity analysis is a methodical
technique to find out those locations with maximum influence
on the system active power losses with respect to the node reactive
power. Sensitivity analysis is carried out also to find the Loss Sen-
sitivity Factor. The Loss Sensitivity Factor [27] is so important that
the candidate number of buses are recognized.
4.1. Loss Sensitivity Factor (LSF)
To identify the location for capacitor placement in distribution
system Loss Sensitivity Factors have been used. LSF is able to pre-
dict which bus will have the biggest loss reduction when a capac-
itor is placed. Therefore, these sensitive buses can serve as
candidate buses for the placement of capacitor. The estimation of
these candidate buses basically helps in reducing of the search
space for the optimization problem. As only few buses can be can-
didate buses for compensation, the installation cost on capacitors
can also be curtailed.
Consider a distribution line with an impedance (r + jx) and a
load of (Peff + jQeff) connected between (i) and (j) buses. Peff & Qeff
are the active and Reactive power beyond the receiving end bus.
kW loss in the line is given by ðI2ij  Rij Þ, which can also be
expressed as,
 
P2effj þ Q 2effj  r ij
Plineloss ðijÞ ¼
ðV j Þ2
Similarly the Reactive power loss in the line is given by
 
P2eff j þ Q 2eff j  xij
Q lineloss ðijÞ ¼
ðV j Þ2
where
Peff = Total effective active power supplied beyond the bus ‘j’.
Qeff = Total effective reactive power supplied beyond the bus ‘j’.
Now, the Loss Sensitivity Factor (LSF) can be calculated as
@Plinelossij 2  Q effj  r ij
¼ ð13Þ
@Q effj ðV j Þ2
387
@Q linelossij 2  Q effj  xij
¼ ð14Þ
@Q effj ðV j Þ2
Algorithm for sensitivity analysis
 Q fc ð9Þ Step 1: Calculate the Loss Sensitivity Factor:
@PLOSS
LSF ¼ @ all the buses:
@Q
Step 2: LSF in Descending Order: Arrange the value of Loss Sensi-
tivity Factor in descending order. Also store the respective
buses into bus position vector.
ð10Þ Step 3: Normalization: Calculate the normalized voltage
magnitudes
V½i
normðiÞ ¼ of all the buses:
0:95
V½i
Step 4: Choose Candidate Buses: The buses whose normðiÞ ¼ 0:95 is
less than 1.01 are selected as candidate buses for capacitor
placement.
Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA)
This paper adopts a new search algorithm called Gravitational
Search Algorithm (GSA) as the solution technique to address the
objective function. This technique was originally developed by
Rashedi et al. [25] to answer the various non-linear problems.
Duman et al. [42] proposed GSA to decide the optimal settings
for control variables of the optimal power flow problem in power
system. To find the optimum emission dispatch, optimum fuel cost,
best compromising emission and fuel cost, Mondal et al. [43] has
applied GSA to solve the optimization problem.
In this paper, GSA is applied to minimize the feeder losses in RDN.
It is formulated as loss minimization problem subject to operational
and electrical constraints. GSA is based on the law of gravity and
mass interactions. The search agents are a group of masses which
act together with each other based on the Newtonian gravity and
the laws of motion. It consider agents as objects consisting of differ-
ent masses. All the agents move due to the gravitational attraction
force acting amongst them and the advancement of the algorithm
directs the movements of all agents globally headed towards the
agents with heavier masses. Every agent in GSA is specified by four
parameters: Position of the mass in dth dimension, inertia mass,
active gravitational mass and passive gravitational mass.
GSA algorithmic steps
Step 1: Initialization of the agents: Initialize the positions of the N
ð11Þ number of agents randomly chosen within the given search
interval using Eq. (15).
 
X i ¼ x1i ; . . . ; xdi ; . . . ; xni ; for i ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; N ð15Þ
Step 2: Fitness evolution and best fitness computation for each
agent: Perform the fitness evolution for all agents at each itera-
ð12Þ
tion and also find the best and worst fitness at every iteration
developed for minimization problems in the Eqs. (16) and (17).
bestðtÞ ¼ min fitj ðtÞ ð16Þ
j2f1;...;Ng
worstðtÞ ¼ max fitj ðtÞ ð17Þ
j2f1;...;Ng
Step 3: Compute gravitational constant G: Determine gravita-
tional constant G at iteration t using the Eq. (18),
GðtÞ ¼ Go eðat=TÞ ð18Þ
388 Y. Mohamed Shuaib et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 384–397

Step 4: Calculate the mass of the agents: Find gravitational and Table 2
inertia masses for each one of the agents at iteration (t) by GSA parameters.

the set of Eq. (19), GSA parameters 33 Bus 69 Bus 85 Bus 141 Bus
9
Mai ¼ Mpi ¼ M ii ¼ M i ; i ¼ 1; 2; . . . ; N > N = number of agents 2000 2500 1700 1500
>
> Max iteration 400 750 500 450
fiti ðtÞworsti ðtÞ =
mi ðtÞ ¼ bestðtÞworstðtÞ Alfa 20 20 20 20
ð19Þ
>
> Gravitational time constant, G0 100 100 100 100
Mi ðtÞ ¼ PmN i ðtÞ >
;
m ðtÞ j
j¼1

Step 5: Calculate accelerations of the agents: Compute the accel-

The positions of N number of agents with ‘n’ number of capac-
eration of the ith agents at iteration t, Eq. (20),
itor values are initialized randomly using the values of capacitors
F di ðtÞ given in Table 1.
adi ðtÞ ¼ ð20Þ The fitness of each population is calculated using the objective
M ii ðtÞ
function and the population which has the best and worst fitness is
F di ðtÞ, the total force acting on ith agent calculated from the Eq. (21), taken into account for further calculations. The gravitational con-
X
F di ðt Þ ¼ randj F dij ðtÞ ð21Þ stant ‘‘G’’ is calculated using Eq. (18). Calculate the gravitational
j2Kbest;j–i and inertial masses of each agent at each iteration using the Eq.
(19). Calculate acceleration of the agents using the Eq. (20). Update
Step 6: Update velocity and positions of the agents: Compute the velocity and position for (t + 1) generation using the Eq. (22).
velocity and the position of the agents at the next iteration Check whether the last iteration is reached or not. If not reached
(t + 1) using Eq. (22) the new population is selected from the old population randomly.
)
v di ðt þ 1Þ ¼ randi  v di ðtÞ þ adi ðtÞ
ð22Þ 5.3. Parameters for GSA algorithm
xdi ðt þ 1Þ ¼ xdi ðtÞ þ v di ðt þ 1Þ

Step 7: Reprise from Steps 2–6 until iterations reach their max- To get an optimal solution using GSA algorithm, the following
imum limit. Return the best fitness computed at final iteration list of parameters (Table 2) has been used to find optimum capac-
as a global fitness of the problem and the positions of the cor- itor values due to which the resulting solution yields the minimum
responding agent at specified dimensions as the global solution cost and the best voltage profile.
of that problem. The performance of GSA in capacitor placement problem is esti-
mated. Twenty independent trials have been made with 2000
Application of GSA to capacitor placement problem agents and 400 iterations per trial for 33 Bus test system and with
2500 agents and 750 iterations per trial for 69 Bus test system. To
The characteristics of GSA includes using of coded structures of evaluate 85 Bus & 141 Bus, the value of N is set to be 1700 & 1500
the variables instead of the actual variables themselves. It uses respectively and the maximum iteration is fixed as 500 & 450
multiple point search instead of single point search, thereby iden- respectively. The value of Alfa and the gravitational time constant
tifying more peaks and reducing the probability of getting stuck in G0 for all the cases are set to 20 and 100. The optimal results
local optima. The only information needed is the objective function attained using these considerations in the algorithm are tabulated
thereby making the implementation simpler. in Tables 3–8.
If a population of strings P(t), during a tth generation is consid-
ered, a simple GSA with the above characteristics can be imple- Overview of test systems
mented as follows:
The programming technique for placement of capacitor has
Pseudo code of GSA been applied to the 33, 69, 85 and 141-Bus networks. The perfor-
mance of the proposed method (GSA) over a recognized analytical
begin
technique and a local search meta-heuristic namely Interior-Point
t= 0;
algorithm and Simulated Annealing respectively is also been per-
initialize P(t);
formed. In order to test the mathematical statement, a 33 Bus
evaluate strings in P(t);
[33] RDN (Fig. 1) has been taken as an example system. The test
calculate gravitational constant
system consists of 33 Bus, 32 Lines. The first bus is considered as
calculate mass of agents
the substation bus. Loads are connected to all buses except the first
calculate acceleration of agents
bus which is the substation bus. The total active power load and
while termination condition not satisfied do begin
reactive power load of this test system are 3715 kW and 2300 kVAr
next
respectively. The substation voltage is 12.66 kV. Another IEEE 69-
t = t+1;
Bus RDN test network portrayed in (Fig. 2) is employed for the
select P (t) from P (t1);
authentication of the proposed method. The specifications of the
end
69 Bus system are taken from the citation [6]. The distribution net-
end
work comprises of 69 Bus, 68 Lines. The total active power load and

Table 1
Capacitor size & cost ($/kVAr).

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Cap. value 150 350 450 600 800 900 1050 1200 1350 1500 1650 1800 1950 2100
Cap. cost 0.5 0.35 0.253 0.22 0.276 0.183 0.228 0.17 0.207 0.201 0.193 0.87 0.211 0.176
 Y. Mohamed Shuaib et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 384–397 389

Table 3
Comparison of network parameters using Interior Point algorithm, Simulated Annealing and GSA.

Parameter Interior Point (IP) SA Proposed GSA

33 Bus 69 Bus 85 Bus 33 Bus 69 Bus 85 Bus 33 Bus 69 Bus 85 Bus
Minimum voltage 0.9501 0.9532 0.9621 0.9591 0.9500 0.9595 0.9672 0.9519 0.9611
(p.u.)
Active power loss 171.78 163.28 179.85 151.75 155.45 158.25 134.5 145.9 143.019
(kW)
Optimum locations 9, 29, 30 11, 29, 60 7, 21, 49, 57, 62, 69, 83, 85 10, 30, 14 58, 11, 59 22, 54, 71 26, 13, 15 26, 13, 15 8, 12, 29, 36, 68, 83
Capacitor ratings 450, 800, 900, 1050, 150, 450, 350, 350, 150, 900, 450, 350, 900, 450, 900, 450, 350, 450, 150, 150, 150, 150, 350, 450,
(kVAr) 900 450 1050, 1200 900 600 800 800 1050 450, 1050
Total capacitor 2150 2400 4600 1700 1950 2150 1600 1350 2600
value (kVAr)

Table 4
Net savings using IP, SA and GSA.

Parameter IP SA Proposed GSA

33 Bus 69 Bus 85 Bus 33 Bus 69 Bus 85 Bus 33 Bus 69 Bus 85 Bus
Annual cost for kW loss 28,859 27,431 30,215 28,859 26,116 26,586 24,511 22,596 24,027
Annual capacitor cost 499.35 517.95 1116.95 401.05 410.55 499.35 451.5 457.15 739.6
Total annual cost 29,358 27,949 31,332 29,260 26,526 27,085 24,963 23,053 24,767
Net savings 6085 9851 21,708 6183 11,274 25,955 12,837 12,390 28,273
% Savings 17% 26% 41% 17.44% 29.83% 48.93% 34% 35% 53%

Table 5
Performance of GSA over IP, two stage method, FRCGA-33 Bus RDN.

Item Un-compensated Compensated

Author Abul’Wafa Analytical Abul’Wafa Abul’Wafa Proposed method

Technique Base case IP A two stage method (GA) FRCGA GSA
Citation [41] – [33] [41] –
Year 2014 2014 2013 2014 2014
Total losses (kW) 210.97 171.78 144.04 141.24 134.5
% Loss reduction – 18.58% 31.72% 33.05% 36.25%
Candidate buses for capacitor placement – 9, 29, 30 7, 29, 30 28, 6, 29, 8, 30, 9 26, 13, 15
Optimal capacitor size (kVAr) ($168/kW) – 450, 800, 900 850, 25, 900 25, 475, 300, 175, 400, 350 350, 450, 800
Total kVAr – 2150 1775 1725 1600
Annual cost for kW loss (A) ($) 35442.96 28859.04 24198.72 23728.32 22,596
Annual capacitor cost (B) ($/kVAr) 0 499.35 507.15 492.86 457.15
Total annual cost ($) (C = A + B) 35442.96 29358.39 24705.87 24221.18 23053.15
Net savings ($) (D = 35442.96  C) 0 6084.57 10737.09 11221.78 12389.81
% Savings (E = D/35442.96) 0.00% 17.17% 30.29% 31.66% 34.96%

reactive power load of the network are 3801.89 kW and
2694.1 kVAr respectively. The substation voltage is 12.66 kV.
To express the value of GSA, it is executed on an 85-Bus test sys-
tem. The single line diagram of the system is exemplified in Fig. 3.
Line data and load data of this system are taken from [8] which is
also tabulated in Tables A01 and A03. With the purpose of exhibiting
the efficacy of the suggested GSA algorithm for a practical large scale
distribution network, it is executed in a real life system consists of
231 Buses which is a part of Caracas. To make the proceedings sim-
ple, the network is reduced to a 141 Bus system by excluding the
sectioning devices. The elaborate data of the network are taken from
[22] which is also tabulated in Table A02. The base of the system is
100 MVA and the rated substation voltage of the reduced network is
12.47 kV. The total active power load and reactive power load of 141
RDN are 12,190 kW and 6289 kVAr respectively.
Result analysis
The results of 33, 69, 85 and 141 Bus radial distribution net-
works are given in Sections ‘33 Bus test system, 69 Bus test system,
85 Bus test system and 141 Bus test system’. The program to assess
the results is coded in MATLAB software which is installed in an
IntelÒ Core™ i5-2410 M CPU @ 2.30 GHz with a set up memory
of 4.00 GB & 64-bit Operating System. As the capacitors are com-
mercially available in distinct sizes, K cfc diverges in discrete steps.
Capacitor cost is of two parts, a static part and a variable part liable
to kVAr size. Here, the cost data for the installation of one unit of
kVAr (Cost/kVAr) will be seen in [23] as a package which is also
tabulated in Table 1 and also the cost incurred for one unit of
kW is found to be 168 $/kW. The detailed examination of the
results are as follows.
33 Bus test system
Un-compensated
Before Un-compensation i.e., with no capacitors installed in
RDN and for the given total active power load of 3715 kW, the
kW loss is obtained as 210.97 kW [41]. The minimum voltage is
registered as 0.9036 p.u. at the 18th bus. The annual cost incurred
for 210.97 kW is calculated as $35442.96.
Table 6

390
Performance of GSA over IP, DSA, two stage method, DE-PS, CSA and TLBO-69 Bus RDN.

Item Un-compensated Compensated

Author Baran & Wu Analytical Raju et al. Abul’Wafa El-Fergany El-Fergany et al. Sultana & Roy Proposed method
Technique Base case IP DSA Two stage method DE-PS CSA TLBO GSA
Citation 7 – 32 33 34 37 38 –
Year 1989 2014 2012 2013 2013 2013 2014 2014
Total losses (kW) 225 163.28 147 148.91 151.38 147.95 146.35 145.9
Loss reduction (%) – 27.43 34.67 33.82 32.72 34.24 34.96 35.16
Candidate buses for capacitor placement – 11, 29, 60 61, 15, 60 19, 62, 63 57, 58, 61, 60, 59, 64 21, 62 12, 61, 64 26, 13, 15
Optimal capacitor size (kVAr) – 900, 1050, 450 900, 450, 450 225, 900, 225 – 250, 1200 600, 1050, 150 150, 150, 1050
Total kVAr – 2400 1800 1350 1450 1450 1800 1350
Annual cost for kW loss (A) ($) 37,800 27431.04 24,696 25016.88 25431.84 24855.6 24586.8 24511.2
Annual capacitor cost (B) ($/kVAr) 0 517.95 392.4 322.5 316.1 291.5 446.4 451.5

Y. Mohamed Shuaib et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 384–397
Total annual cost ($) (C = A + B) 37,800 27948.99 25088.4 25339.38 25747.94 25147.1 25033.2 24962.7
Net savings ($) (D = 37,800  C) 0 9851.01 12711.6 12460.62 12052.06 12652.9 12766.8 12837.3
% Savings (E = D/37,800) 0.00% 26.06% 33.63% 32.96% 31.88% 33.47% 33.77% 33.96%

Table 7
Performance of GSA over IP, PGSA, DSA, TLBO, MINLP-85 Bus RDN.

Item Un-compensated Compensated

Author Sayyad Nojavan Analytical Rao et al. Raju et al. Sultana and Roy Nojavan et al. Proposed method
et al.
Technique IP PGSA DSA TLBO MINLP GSA
Citation [40] – [27] [32] [38] [40] –
Year 2014 2014 2011 2012 2014 2014 2014
Total losses 315.714 179.85 161.4 144.01 143.18 159.87 143.019
% Loss reduction – 42.30 48.22 53.80 54.07 48.71 54.12
Candidate buses for capacitor – 7, 21, 49, 57, 62, 69, 83, 85 8, 58, 7 36, 69 & other 12 4, 7, 9, 21, 26, 31, 45, 49, 55, 61, 68, 83, 85 7, 8, 29, 58 8, 12, 29, 36, 68, 83
placement Buses
Optimal capacitor size (kVAr) – 150, 450, 350, 350, 150, 900, 1050, 1200, 908, 450, 300, (150 * 12) 300, 150, 300, 150, 150, 300, 150, 150, 150, 300, 300, 300, 700, 900, 150, 150, 350, 450, 450,
1200 200 150, 150 500 1050
Total kVAr – 4600 2308 2550 2700 2400 2600
Annual cost for kW loss (A) ($) 53039.952 30214.8 27115.2 24193.68 24054.24 26858.16 24027.192
Annual capacitor cost (B) ($/kVAr) 0 1116.95 470.164 1118.85 1212.5 589.4 739.6
Total annual cost ($) (C = A + B) 53039.952 31331.75 27585.364 25312.53 25266.74 27447.56 24766.792
Net savings ($) 0 21708.202 25454.588 27727.422 27773.212 25592.392 28273.16
(D = 53039.952  C)
% Savings (E = D/53039.952) 0.00% 40.93% 47.99% 52.28% 52.36% 48.25% 53.31%
 Y. Mohamed Shuaib et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 384–397 391

Table 8
Performance of GSA over IP, SA, MILP and TLBO-141 Bus RDN.

Item Un- Compensated

compensated
Technique/author Base case/Khodr IP/analytical SA MILP/Khodr et al. TLBO/Sultana et al. GSA/Proposed
et al. method
Citation [22] – – [22] [38] –
Year 2008 2014 2008 2014 2014
Total losses 116 99.09 55.75 45.26 44.59 45.74
% Loss reduction – 14.58 51.94 60.98 61.56 60.57
Candidate buses for capacitor – 11, 33, 86, 99, 121 8. 41, 63, 75, 99, 121 23, 50, 55, 64, 79, 94 26, 42, 46, 49, 61, 23, 50, 55, 64, 80, 99
placement 115
Optimal capacitor size (kVAr) – 150, 350, 800, 150, 150, 150, 150, 300, 300, 300, 300, 900, 900, 900, 900, 150, 350, 350, 150,
900, 1200 150, 2100 300, 300 750, 900 150, 150
Total kVAr – 3400 2850 1800 5250 1500
Annual cost for kW loss (A) ($) 19,488 16647.12 9366 7603.68 7491.12 7684.32
Annual capacitor cost (B) ($/ 0 787 744.6 630 1030.5 545
kVAr)
Total annual cost ($) 19,488 17434.12 10110.6 8233.68 8521.62 8229.32
(C = A + B)
Net savings ($) 0 2053.88 9377.4 11254.32 10966.38 11258.68
(D = 19,488  C)
% Savings (E = D/19,488) 0.00% 10.54% 48.12% 57.75% 56.27% 57.77%

Fig. 1. Line diagram of 33 Bus RDN.

Compensated
Using the proposed method, the capacitors of rating 350, 450
and 800 kVAr are placed at the optimal locations 26, 13 and 15
respectively. The optimal locations are obtained by sensitivity
analysis. As a result, the kW loss is reduced to 134.5 kW from
the base case of 210.97 kW witnessing a 36.25% of active power
loss reduction. The worst voltage is found to be 0.9567 per unit
at 32nd bus which is satisfying the voltage constraint. The yearly
cost incurred for active power loss is calculated as $22,596. The
amount spent over the installation of capacitors is been calculated
as $457.15. Therefore, the overall annual cost will be the sum of
yearly cost of kW loss and the annual cost of capacitor installed
at optimal candidate buses. Net savings per year will be
$12389.81 which leads to 34.96% of net savings.
The total kVAr installed through conservatively tried out analyt-
ical Interior-Point (IP) technique and Simulated Annealing (SA)
Technique are 2150 kVAr and 1700 kVAr respectively. By which
the Net amount saved as a result of the placement of the capacitor
are $6084.57 using IP and $6183 using SA which yields a net saving
of 17.17% and 17.44% respectively from both the methods
(Table 3).
In this paper, GSA algorithm is proposed and the percentage of
kW loss reduction is 36.25%, where the percentage of loss reduc-
tion is more when compared to all the results arrived using various
algorithmic techniques. The percentage of net savings is 34.96%
which is also more than any other techniques. This proves the effi-
cacy of the proposed algorithm. The results of 33 Bus test system
and the result comparison of the proposed algorithm with the
other optimization techniques have been tabulated in Table 5.

Preeminence of GSA over other algorithms

Abul’Wafa [41] in 2014 carried out capacitor placement prob-
lem using Fuzzy Real Coded Genetic Algorithm (FRCGA) and
reduced the kW losses to 141.24 kW by installing a capacitor size
of 1725 kVAr which in turn gained 31.66% as net savings. In the
year 2013, the same author [33] has proposed a two stage method
to improve the net savings (30.29%) in which he carried out loss
sensitivity technique for the determination of the candidate buses
and Genetic Algorithm (GA) to know the ratings of the capacitors.
69 Bus test system
Un-compensated
Before placing the capacitors installed in RDN and for the given
total active power load of 3801.89 kW, the kW loss is attained as
225 kW [7]. The lowest voltage is registered as 0.9092 p.u. at the
59th bus. The yearly cost incurred for 225 kW is calculated as
$37,800.
392 Y. Mohamed Shuaib et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 384–397

Fig. 2. Line diagram of 69 Bus RDN.

Fig. 3. Line diagram of 85 Bus RDN.

 Y. Mohamed Shuaib et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 384–397 393

Table A01 Table A01 (continued)

85 Bus RDN line data.
Line number From bus To bus Resistance (Ohm) Reactance (Ohms)
Line number From bus To bus Resistance (Ohm) Reactance (Ohms)
76 65 77 0.091 0.037
1 1 2 0.108 0.075 77 10 78 0.637 0.264
2 2 3 0.163 0.112 78 67 79 0.546 0.226
3 3 4 0.217 0.149 79 12 80 0.728 0.302
4 4 5 0.108 0.074 80 80 81 0.364 0.151
5 5 6 0.435 0.298 81 81 82 0.091 0.037
6 6 7 0.272 0.186 82 81 83 1.092 0.453
7 7 8 1.197 0.82 83 83 84 1.002 0.416
8 8 9 0.108 0.074 84 13 85 0.819 0.34
9 9 10 0.598 0.41
10 10 11 0.544 0.373
11 11 12 0.544 0.373 Compensated
12 12 13 0.598 0.41 Using GSA, the capacitors of rating 150, 150 and 1050 kVAr are
13 13 14 0.272 0.186 placed at the optimal locations 26, 13 and 15 respectively. The
14 14 15 0.326 0.223
optimal locations are found using sensitivity analysis. As a result,
15 2 16 0.728 0.302
16 3 17 0.455 0.189 the kW loss is reduced to 145.9 kW from the base case of
17 5 18 0.82 0.34 225 kW witnessing a 35.16% of kW loss reduction. The lowest volt-
18 18 19 0.637 0.264 age is found to be 0.9511 p.u. at 44th bus. The annual cost incurred
19 19 20 0.455 0.189 for kW loss is calculated as $24511.2. The amount spent over the
20 20 21 0.819 0.34
21 21 22 1.548 0.642
installation of capacitors is been calculated as $451.15. Therefore,
22 19 23 0.182 0.075 the overall annual cost will be the sum of yearly cost of real power
23 7 24 0.91 0.378 loss and the annual cost of capacitor installed at optimal candidate
24 8 25 0.455 0.189 buses. Net savings per year will be $12837.3 which leads to 33.96%
25 25 26 0.364 0.151
of net savings.
26 26 27 0.546 0.226
27 27 28 0.273 0.113
28 28 29 0.546 0.226
Preeminence of GSA over other algorithms
29 29 30 0.546 0.226 Raju et al. [32] in 2012 handled the capacitor placement prob-
30 30 31 0.273 0.113 lem using DSA and reduced the kW losses to 147 kW by installing
31 31 32 0.182 0.075 a capacitor size of 1800 kVAr due to which the net savings is 33.63.
32 32 33 0.182 0.075
In the year 2013, Abul’Wafa [33] has proposed a two stage method
33 33 34 0.819 0.34
34 34 35 0.637 0.264 to improve the net savings (32.96%) in which he used loss sensitiv-
35 35 36 0.182 0.075 ity technique for the determination of the candidate buses and
36 26 37 0.364 0.151 Genetic Algorithm to know the ratings of the capacitors. El-Fergany
37 27 38 1.002 0.416 [34], hybrided Differential Evolution (DE) with Pattern Search (PS)
38 29 39 0.546 0.226
39 32 40 0.455 0.189
to develop a meta-heuristic optimization tool for solving the objec-
40 40 41 1.002 0.416 tive function in which the author handled it using both determin-
41 41 42 0.273 0.113 istic and stochastic methodologies of diverse complications to
42 41 43 0.455 0.189 achieve net saving of 31.88%. During 2013, El-Fergany et al. [37]
43 34 44 1.002 0.416
minimized the total expenditure to $25147.1 achieving 33.47%
44 44 45 0.911 0.378
45 45 46 0.911 0.378 net savings with the help of CSA. Out of the total expenses towards
46 46 47 0.546 0.226 the capacitor sizing and placement, 33.77% has been saved by Sul-
47 35 48 0.637 0.264 tana & Roy [38] using TLBO where the total kVAr installed is 1800
48 48 49 0.182 0.075 kVAr. The ratings of the capacitor banks installed through conser-
49 49 50 0.364 0.151
50 50 51 0.455 0.189
vatively tried out analytical IP and SA are 2400 kVAr and 1950
51 48 52 1.366 0.567 kVAr respectively. By which the net savings out the total annual
52 52 53 0.455 0.189 cost incurred for the placement of the capacitor are $9851.01 using
53 53 54 0.546 0.226 IP and $11,274 using SA which yields a net saving of 26.06% and
54 52 55 0.546 0.226
29.83% respectively from both the methods (Table 3).
55 49 56 0.546 0.226
56 9 57 0.273 0.113 In this paper, GSA algorithm is proposed and the percentage of
57 57 58 0.819 0.34 loss reduction is 35.16%, where the percentage of loss reduction is
58 58 59 0.182 0.075 more when compared to all the results arrived using various algo-
59 58 60 0.546 0.226 rithmic techniques. The percentage of net savings is 33.96% which
60 60 61 0.728 0.302
61 61 62 1.002 0.415
is also more than any other techniques. This proves the efficacy of
62 60 63 0.182 0.075 the proposed algorithm. The results of 69 Bus test system and the
63 63 64 0.728 0.302 result comparison of the proposed algorithm with the other opti-
64 64 65 0.182 0.075 mization techniques have been tabulated in Table 6.
65 65 66 0.182 0.075
66 64 67 0.455 0.189
85 Bus test system
67 67 68 0.91 0.378
68 68 69 1.092 0.453
69 69 70 0.455 0.189 Un-compensated
70 70 71 0.546 0.226 With no capacitors installed in RDN and for the given total active
71 67 72 0.182 0.075 power load of 2550 kW, the kW loss is calibrated as 315.714 kW
72 68 73 1.184 0.491
[40]. The minimum voltage is registered as 0.9240 p.u. at the 54th
73 73 74 0.273 0.113
74 73 75 1.002 0.416 bus. The annual cost incurred for 315.714 kW is calculated as
75 70 76 0.546 0.226 $53039.952.
394 Y. Mohamed Shuaib et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 384–397

Table A02 Table A02 (continued)

141 Bus RDN line data & demand profile.
From bus To bus R X kVA kW kVAr
From bus To bus R X kVA kW kVAr
46 77 0.0516 0.0436 150.00 114.58 96.81
1 2 0.0577 0.0409 0.00 0.00 0.00 76 78 0.0167 0.0110 0.00 0.00 0.00
2 3 0.1725 0.1223 0.00 0.00 0.00 78 79 0.0415 0.0101 502.50 488.25 118.83
3 4 0.0009 0.0006 0.00 0.00 0.00 79 80 0.1003 0.0244 750.00 728.75 177.28
4 5 0.0092 0.0065 0.00 0.00 0.00 79 81 0.1513 0.0370 0.00 0.00 0.00
5 6 0.0068 0.0049 0.00 0.00 0.00 81 82 0.0033 0.0008 150.00 145.78 35.34
6 7 0.0469 0.0625 0.00 0.00 0.00 47 83 0.0085 0.0062 75.00 60.59 44.20
7 8 0.0736 0.0981 75.00 45.01 59.99 49 84 0.0517 0.0449 225.00 169.88 147.53
8 9 0.0649 0.0459 10.00 8.16 5.77 50 85 0.0147 0.0036 0.00 0.00 0.00
9 10 0.0507 0.0359 0.00 0.00 0.00 85 86 0.0037 0.0016 500.00 458.93 198.46
10 11 0.0116 0.0082 0.00 0.00 0.00 86 87 0.0037 0.0016 150.00 137.68 59.54
11 12 0.1291 0.0913 25.00 20.41 14.44 7 88 0.0174 0.0231 75.00 45.12 59.91
12 13 0.1227 0.0866 75.00 61.28 43.25 88 89 0.0469 0.0625 65.00 39.01 51.99
13 14 0.0488 0.0345 0.00 0.00 0.00 89 90 0.0299 0.0398 0.00 0.00 0.00
14 15 0.0957 0.0677 0.00 0.00 0.00 90 91 0.0212 0.0283 0.00 0.00 0.00
15 16 0.0860 0.0609 0.00 0.00 0.00 91 92 0.0315 0.0420 0.00 0.00 0.00
16 17 0.0398 0.0282 150.00 122.39 86.72 92 93 0.0280 0.0373 0.00 0.00 0.00
17 18 0.0828 0.0566 0.00 0.00 0.00 93 94 0.0206 0.0274 110.00 66.10 87.92
18 19 0.0186 0.0132 0.00 0.00 0.00 94 95 0.0206 0.0274 0.00 0.00 0.00
19 20 0.0559 0.0395 75.00 61.25 43.28 89 96 0.0687 0.0486 150.00 122.46 86.63
20 21 0.0365 0.0246 75.00 62.19 41.92 96 97 0.0970 0.0686 0.00 0.00 0.00
21 22 0.0573 0.0307 0.00 0.00 0.00 97 98 0.0902 0.0196 300.00 293.16 63.70
22 23 0.0263 0.0191 75.00 60.69 44.07 97 99 0.0033 0.0008 0.00 0.00 0.00
23 24 0.0683 0.0497 0.00 0.00 0.00 131 132 0.0347 0.0245 75.00 61.27 43.26
24 25 0.0398 0.0282 0.00 0.00 0.00 131 133 0.0920 0.0669 45.00 36.39 26.47
27 26 0.0729 0.0530 150.00 121.32 88.21 121 134 0.0841 0.0612 35.00 28.30 20.59
26 27 0.0335 0.0244 75.00 60.62 44.16 16 135 0.0527 0.0373 25.00 20.41 14.44
27 23 0.0584 0.0414 0.00 0.00 0.00 16 136 0.0302 0.0214 75.00 61.19 43.36
28 29 0.0655 0.0463 75.00 61.24 43.29 16 137 0.0584 0.0414 55.00 44.87 31.81
61 62 0.0411 0.0291 200.00 163.23 115.57 23 138 0.0769 0.0559 50.00 40.44 29.40
60 63 0.0353 0.0250 0.00 0.00 0.00 99 100 0.0033 0.0008 300.00 291.56 70.68
63 64 0.1047 0.0741 300.00 244.88 173.31 91 101 0.0231 0.0164 15.00 12.23 8.68
64 65 0.0674 0.0477 150.00 122.44 86.65 101 102 0.0578 0.0409 0.00 0.00 0.00
65 66 0.0302 0.0214 225.00 183.58 130.09 102 103 0.0889 0.0217 125.00 121.43 29.64
66 67 0.0456 0.0323 50.00 40.80 28.90 103 104 0.0629 0.0153 0.00 0.00 0.00
67 63 0.0218 0.0154 100.00 81.68 57.70 104 105 0.1170 0.0285 300.00 291.48 71.00
29 30 0.0342 0.0248 0.00 0.00 0.00 104 106 0.0114 0.0026 150.00 146.24 33.35
30 31 0.0128 0.0091 0.00 0.00 0.00 92 107 0.0849 0.0207 502.50 488.20 119.03
31 32 0.0347 0.0245 150.00 122.54 86.52 94 108 0.0612 0.0260 0.00 0.00 0.00
2 33 0.0443 0.0314 0.00 0.00 0.00 108 109 0.0452 0.0192 750.00 690.30 293.23
33 34 0.0020 0.0009 150.00 136.79 61.55 94 110 0.0033 0.0008 750.00 728.89 176.70
5 35 0.2274 0.0554 300.00 291.47 71.01 7 111 0.0719 0.0509 25.00 20.40 14.44
5 36 0.1265 0.1565 150.00 94.29 116.66 10 112 0.1070 0.0261 500.00 485.76 118.49
6 37 0.0055 0.0073 50.00 30.09 39.93 11 113 0.0347 0.0245 75.00 61.27 43.26
37 38 0.2036 0.1440 0.00 0.00 0.00 13 114 0.0623 0.0441 0.00 0.00 0.00
38 39 0.0938 0.0663 20.00 16.33 11.54 114 115 0.0668 0.0473 0.00 0.00 0.00
39 40 0.0347 0.0245 0.00 0.00 0.00 115 116 0.0040 0.0010 300.00 291.04 72.76
40 41 0.0918 0.0650 75.00 61.21 43.34 14 117 0.0506 0.0366 65.00 52.67 38.09
41 42 0.2318 0.1640 0.00 0.00 0.00 15 118 0.0161 0.0114 0.00 0.00 0.00
42 43 0.1207 0.0854 0.00 0.00 0.00 118 119 0.0462 0.0327 110.00 89.79 63.55
43 44 0.0443 0.0314 50.00 40.79 28.91 119 120 0.0424 0.0300 0.00 0.00 0.00
44 45 0.0405 0.0288 0.00 0.00 0.00 120 121 0.0507 0.0359 0.00 0.00 0.00
45 46 0.0160 0.0127 0.00 0.00 0.00 121 122 0.0732 0.0518 0.00 0.00 0.00
46 47 0.0636 0.0450 0.00 0.00 0.00 122 123 0.0584 0.0414 100.00 81.58 57.83
47 48 0.0417 0.0295 125.00 102.05 72.19 123 124 0.0610 0.0432 125.00 102.01 72.24
48 49 0.0732 0.0510 150.00 123.07 85.75 124 125 0.0783 0.0554 0.00 0.00 0.00
49 50 0.0828 0.0556 0.00 0.00 0.00 125 126 0.0834 0.0607 0.00 0.00 0.00
50 51 0.0398 0.0282 125.00 101.99 72.27 126 127 0.0347 0.0245 75.00 61.27 43.26
51 52 0.0225 0.0159 75.00 61.25 43.28 127 128 0.0570 0.0420 75.00 60.38 44.49
38 53 0.0841 0.0595 100.00 81.63 57.76 128 129 0.0585 0.0425 110.00 88.99 64.65
42 54 0.0019 0.0114 0.00 0.00 0.00 129 130 0.0103 0.0073 112.50 91.79 65.05
54 55 0.0527 0.0373 0.00 0.00 0.00 119 131 0.0355 0.0253 0.00 0.00 0.00
55 56 0.0893 0.0632 25.00 20.41 14.44 25 139 0.0950 0.0673 50.00 40.80 28.90
56 57 0.0867 0.0613 0.00 0.00 0.00 30 140 0.0519 0.0377 150.00 121.36 88.16
57 58 0.0674 0.0477 300.00 244.88 173.30 31 141 0.0584 0.0414 75.00 61.19 43.37
58 59 0.0469 0.0332 150.00 122.43 86.67
55 60 0.0334 0.0236 0.00 0.00 0.00 h = tan1 X/R in degrees.
60 61 0.0327 0.0232 300.00 244.67 173.59 Power factor of the load = cos h.
63 69 0.0366 0.0259 300.00 244.89 173.29 Real power load (kW) = cos(tan1 X/R)  kVA = (cos h)  kVA.
66 70 0.0231 0.0164 0.00 0.00 0.00 Reactive power load (kVAr) = tan(h)  kW.
70 71 0.0120 0.0029 300.00 291.61 70.47
70 72 0.0700 0.0495 150.00 122.47 86.61
42 73 0.0231 0.0164 300.00 244.62 173.67
Compensated
73 74 0.0030 0.0064 300.00 127.33 271.64
43 75 0.0379 0.0268 45.00 36.74 25.98
As a result of the compensation process, the Capacitors of rating
44 76 0.0552 0.0391 75.00 61.20 43.35 150, 150, 350, 450, 450 and 1050 kVAr are placed at the optimal
 Y. Mohamed Shuaib et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 384–397 395

locations 8, 12, 29, 36, 68 and 83 respectively. The optimal loca- Table A03
tions are obtained by sensitivity analysis. As a result, the kW loss 85 Bus RDN load data.

is reduced to 143.019 kW from the base case of 315.714 kW wit- Bus number (kW) Bus number (kW)
nessing a 54.12% of real power loss reduction. The worst voltage 1 0.00 23 56.00
is found to be 0.9616 p.u. at 54th bus which is satisfying the volt- 2 0.00 24 35.28
age constraint. The yearly cost incurred for active power loss is cal- 3 0.00 25 35.28
culated as $24027.192. The amount spent over the installation of 4 56.00 26 56.00
5 0.00 27 56.00
capacitors is been calculated as $739.6. Therefore, the overall 6 35.28 28 35.28
annual cost will be the sum of yearly cost of real power loss and 7 0.00 29 0.00
the annual cost of capacitor installed at optimal candidate buses. 8 35.28 30 35.28
Net savings per year will be $28273.16 which leads to 53.31% of 9 0.00 31 14.00
10 0.00 32 0.00
net savings.
11 56.00 33 35.28
12 0.00 34 0.00
13 0.00 35 0.00
Preeminence of GSA over other algorithms 14 35.28 36 56.00
Rao et al. [27] in 2011 done capacitor placement problem 15 35.28 37 56.00
using PGSA and reduced the kW losses to 161.4 kW by installing 16 35.28 38 56.00
a capacitor size of 2308 kVAr which in turn saved 47.99% of the 17 112.00 39 35.28
18 56.00 40 35.28
total annual cost incurred for the installation. In the year 2012, 19 56.00 41 0.00
Raju et al. [32] proposed DSA for improving the net savings to 20 35.28 42 35.28
52.28%. In the year 2014, Roy [38] addressed the mathematical 21 35.28 43 35.28
problem and achieved the same by minimizing the loss to 22 35.28 44 35.28
45 35.28 67 0.00
143.18 kW and saved 52.36% to the total amount spent over loss
46 35.28 68 0.00
reduction. Same year 2014, Nojavan et al. [40] minimized the 47 14.00 69 56.00
total expenditure to $27447.56 achieving 48.25% net savings 48 0.00 70 0.00
with the help of MINLP. 49 0.00 71 35.28
The total kVAr installed through conservatively tried out analyt- 50 36.28 72 56.00
51 56.00 73 0.00
ical Interior-Point technique and Simulated Annealing Technique 52 0.00 74 56.00
are 4600 kVAr and 2150 kVAr respectively. By which the net sav- 53 35.28 75 35.28
ings out the total annual cost incurred for the placement of the 54 56.00 76 56.00
capacitor are $21708.202 using IP and $25,955 using SA which 55 56.00 77 14.00
56 14.00 78 56.00
yields a net saving of 40.93% and 48.93% respectively from both
57 56.00 79 35.28
the methods (Table 3). 58 0.00 80 56.00
In this paper, GSA algorithm is proposed and the percentage of 59 56.00 81 0.00
loss reduction is 54.12%, where the percentage of loss reduction is 60 0.00 82 56.00
more when compared to all the results arrived using various algo- 61 56.00 83 35.28
62 56.00 84 14.00
rithmic techniques. The percentage of net savings is 53.31% which 63 14.00 85 35.28
is also more than any other techniques. This proves the efficacy of 64 0.00
the proposed algorithm. The results of 85 Bus test system and the 65 0.00
result comparison of the proposed algorithm with the other opti- 66 56.00
mization techniques have been tabulated in Table 7. h = tan1 X/R in degrees.
Power factor of the load = cos h.
Reactive power load (kVAr) = tan(h)  kW.
141 Bus test system

Un-compensated
Before Un-compensation i.e., with no capacitors installed in
RDN and for the given total reactive power load of 6289.38 kVAr,
the kW loss is obtained as 116 kW [22]. The minimum voltage is
registered as 0.8921 at the 99th bus. The annual cost incurred for
116 kW is calculated as $19,488.
Compensated
Using the proposed method, the capacitors of rating 150, 350,
350, 150, 150 and 150 kVAr are placed at the optimal locations
23, 50, 55, 64, 80 and 99 respectively. The optimal locations are
obtained by sensitivity analysis. As a result, the kW loss is reduced
to 45.74 kW from the base case of 116 kW witnessing a 60.57% of
real power loss reduction. The worst voltage is found to be 0.9599
per unit at 108th bus which is satisfying the voltage constraint. The
yearly cost incurred for active power loss is calculated as $7684.32.
The amount spent over the installation of capacitors is been calcu-
lated as $545. Therefore, the overall annual cost will be the sum of
yearly cost of real power loss and the annual cost of capacitor
installed at optimal candidate buses. Net savings per year will be
$11258.68 which leads to 57.77% of net savings.
Preeminence of GSA over other algorithms
During 2014, Sultana et al. [38] suggested TLBO to address the
capacitor placement problem to reduce the kW losses to
44.59 kW by installing a capacitor size of 5250 kVAr which in turn
saved 56.27% of the total annual cost incurred for the installation.
In the year 2008, Khodr et al. [22] solved the mathematical prob-
lem and achieved the same by minimizing the loss to 45.26 kW
and saved 57.75% to the total amount spent over loss reduction.
The total kVAr installed through conservatively tried out analyt-
ical Interior-Point technique and Simulated Annealing Technique
are 3400 kVAr and 2850 kVAr respectively. By which the net sav-
ings out the total annual cost incurred for the placement of the
capacitor are $2053.88 using IP and $9377.4 using SA which yields
a net saving of 10.54% and 48.12% respectively from both the meth-
ods (Table 3).
In this paper, GSA algorithm is proposed and the percentage of
loss reduction is 60.57%, where the percentage of loss reduction is
more when compared to all the results arrived using various algo-
rithmic techniques. The percentage of net savings is 57.77% which
is also more than any other techniques. This proves the efficacy of
the proposed algorithm. The results of 141 Bus test system and the
396 Y. Mohamed Shuaib et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 384–397

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