Symbiotic Organism Search Algorithm for Power Loss Minimization in Radial Distribution Systems by Network Reconfiguration and Distributed Generation Placement

This paper proposes the Symbiotic Organism Search (SOS) algorithm to find the optimal network configuration and the placement of distributed generation (DG) units that minimize the real power loss in radial distribution networks. The proposed algorithm simulates symbiotic relationships such as mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism for solving the optimization problems. In the optimization process, the reconfiguration problem produces a large number of infeasible network configurations. To reduce these infeasible individuals and ensure the radial topology of the network, the graph theory was applied during the power flow. The implementation of the proposed SOS algorithm was carried out on 33-bus, 69-bus, 84-bus, and 119-bus distribution networks considering seven different scenarios. Simulation results and performance comparison with other optimization methods showed that the SOS-based approach was very effective in solving the network reconfiguration and DG placement problems, especially for complex and large-scale distribution networks.