Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 384397

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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
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
b

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 2 July 2013
Received in revised form 7 July 2014
Accepted 11 July 2014
Available online 13 August 2014
Keywords:
Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA)
Capacitor placement (CP)
Radial Distribution Network (RDN)
Loss Sensitivity Factor (LSF)
Sensitivity analysis
kW Loss

a b s t r a c t
Power generated in generating station is transmitted through transmission lines and fed to the consumers through distribution substation. The power distributed into the network has losses, which is greater
in distribution system compared to transmission system. This problem could be addressed by placing
capacitor at strategic location due to which the kW loss can be minimized and the net savings can be
maximized. This paper adopts two methods where the rst method being the sensitivity analysis and
the second method is the Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA). Sensitivity analysis is a methodical technique, which is used to reduce the search space and to arrive at an accurate solution for recognizing the
locality of capacitors. Capacitor values are allocated for the respective locations using GSA. The overall
precision and dependability of the adopted approach were authenticated and veried on few radial distribution network with diverse topologies of varying sizes and complexities and also compared with an
analytical Interior Point algorithm and one of the meta-heuristic optimization technique called Simulated
Annealing. Computational outcomes obtained showed that the proposed method is capable of generating
optimal solutions.
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 prole of the
demands will uctuate from time to time and possibly will cause
imbalance power ow 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 constraint. 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 determination of size (kVAr ratings), location of capacitors. Selecting the best

Corresponding author.
E-mail address: asir_70@pec.edu (C. Christober Asir Rajan).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijepes.2014.07.041
0142-0615/ 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

location for the capacitor will reduce the requirement of the reactive power, which consequently maximizes the net savings and
also used to maintain voltage prole within permissible limits.
To nd out the potential locations for compensation, Loss Sensitivity Factors (LSFs) are used. These factors are computed using sensitivity 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 benets due to capacitor placement. Voltage constraint
was not taken into account. Civanlar and Grainger [35] 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 benets were also achieved through both regulation
and compensation schemes. During 1989, Baran & Wu [6-18]
formulated location, type, size of capacitors, voltage constraints

Y. Mohamed Shuaib et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 384397

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 dene 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 procient & mathematically stable solution technique called Dist-Flow method for distribution networks with large
r/x ratio branches.
The success of Tabu Search (TS) method [9] to solve the combinatorial 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 September 1999, Goswami et al. [10] jointly exemplied 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 nd 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] considered the capacitors as a constant impedance load instead of assuming it as a constant reactive power load. In 2004, Ghose & Goswami
[13] represented combinatorial optimization problem using Simulated 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 considering the harmonic distortion and solved the same based on Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) approach. Ying-Tung Hsiao et al.
[16] had analyzed the fuzzy technique and integrated the performance 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 distribution system by means of variable scaling hybrid differential evolution with the intention of placing the capacitors to lessen the losses
in the distribution network. In [18], network reconguration algorithm 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 specied limit. Huang
et al. [21] in the year modeled fuzzy sets to replicate the ambiguous nature of objectives and incorporated multiple design necessities to nd out a set of non-inferior solutions instead of any single
aggregated optimal solution by removing the need for any userdened weight factor to aggregate all objectives.
Bhattacharya and Goswami [23] developed new fuzzy membership functions in which the real power membership is an exponential 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 determining 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 tting 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).
Gonzlez 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 datas are projected into
equivalent one-dimensional representations. Capacitive compensation was carried out by Raju et al. [32] using Direct Search Algorithm (DSA) wherein the potential spots in the network for a
specic 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 AbulWafa 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 Differential Evolution (DE) with Pattern Search (PS) to form a meta-heuristic 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 deterministic 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 convergence and proven practicality with the help of different heuristic
and Articial 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 linear 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]. AbulWafa
[41] extended his preceding work wherein the combination of
Fuzzy Expert System (FES) for Capacitor placement and Real Coded

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Y. Mohamed Shuaib et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 384397

Genetic Algorithm (RCGA) for capacitor sizing is presented in order

to improve the voltage stability in distribution system.
In the light of the above progresses, this paper presents an
optimization technique called Gravitational Search Algorithm
(GSA), which has been developed as the solution technique for
capacitor placement & sizing problem. The application of GSA
for minimization of active power losses in RDN is formulated
as an objective problem subject to operational and electrical
constraints. A load ow program was developed and the
algorithm based on [14] is used to compute the power ow.
Then it is integrated into GSA for determining the ratings of
capacitors to be installed in RDN. The distribution networks
presented by Baran and Wu [6,7], Das et al. [8] and Khode
et al. [22] are used to demonstrate the reliability and efcacy
of the proposed algorithm.
This paper is organized as follows: Section Load ow describes
load ow. Section Mathematical problem statement delivers the
mathematical model of the problem. Section Sensitivity analysis
explains the sensitivity analysis. Gravitational Search Algorithm
and its ability to solve the optimization problem are discussed in
Section Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA). Overview of test
systems and the result analysis are done in the Sections Overview
of test systems and Result analysis respectively. And nally this
paper is concluded in Section Conclusion which is followed by
the References and Appendix.
Load ow

Load ow algorithmic steps

Step 1: Read system data structure.
Step 2: Go-to slack bus.
Step 3: Initialize Pacc = 0 and Qacc = 0.
Step 4: Calculate P and Q for all buses.
Step 5: Calculate Vj and dj for all buses using Eqs. (1) and (2).
Step 6: Find Ploss and Qloss for all lines.
Step 7: Update Pacc & Qacc using the formula Pacc = Ploss + Pj;
Qacc = Qloss + Qj.
Step 8: Proceed to next bus and continue the step from 4 to 8 up
until Last bus is reached.
Step 9: Check for convergence using Eqs. (3) and (4) and print
the result, otherwise go-to step 2.
Convergence criteria
In this load ow, it is checked whether the sum of powers owing out of the lines connected to each bus equals (or equals within
a tolerable limit) the net power injected into that bus. Mathematically, convergence standards for the adopted load ow is given in
Eqs. (3) and (4) [14].

"
#
X
PGi  PDi 
V i V j Y ij cosdi  dj  hij  e

QGi  QDi 

"
X

V i V j Y ij sin di  dj  hij



#
e

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 ow
study of RDN becomes utmost signicant. Load ow analysis is
concerned with describing the operating state of an entire power
system. NewtonRaphson and fast decoupled load ow solution
techniques are used to solve well-behaved power system. However
these are unsuitable to conduct load ow study in RDN due to low
X/R ratios of branches.
A section of RDN has a sending end bus (ith bus) and receiving
end bus (jth bus). The line connecting two sections has an impedance (Z = r + jx). The power ow at the sending end bus (Si = Pi + jQi)
is equal to the total effective active and reactive powers supplied
beyond the bus j P effj jQ effj plus the local load and the line loss
between the buses i and j.
A load ow algorithm [14] solves the power balance equations
at all buses and nds the corresponding voltage solution has been
adopted in this work. At load buses, the load ow algorithm will
solve for the bus voltage magnitude and phase angle. The known
parameters at a load bus are the received real and reactive powers.
Hence a load ow must solve for the bus voltage magnitude
according to Eq. (1) [14] and phase angle, Eq. (2) [14].

"
V 2j  rP j xQ j 

V 2i
2

v
!2
u
u
V2
 r 2 x2 P2j Q 2j 
t rP j xQ j  i
2
1

1

dj di  sin



xPj  rQ j
V iV j

If the voltage magnitude and phase angle values are to be computed 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.

Mathematical problem statement

Total active and reactive power loss
The kW and kVAr losses in the line between mth and nth bus is
given by,

pmnloss

Q mnloss

Pn 2 Q n 2
V m 2
Pn 2 Q n 2
V m 2

 Rmn

 X mn

The total kW and kVAr losses of RDN having N buses and

N  1 branches is given by,

PT;loss

1nN
X

Pmnloss

1mN
mn

Q T;loss

1nN
X

Q mnloss

1mN
mn

Objective function for capacitor placement problem in RDN

The objective is to minimize the annual cost incurred due to kW
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 nding out the best set of candidate buses to install capacitor banks such that the subsequent RDN
experiences least kW loss and has the best voltage prole. Dealing
with the placement of xed capacitor and related sizing problem is
an optimization problem concerned with discrete variables and the

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Y. Mohamed Shuaib et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 384397

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
Minimize F 4@

1nN
X

1
Pmnloss A  K

3
p5

K cfc

 Q fc

Subject to the voltage constraint given in (10),

Voltage constraints will be taken into justication by stipulating the Lower and Upper bound between Vmin = 0.95 p.u. and
Vmax = 1.0 p.u.

10

The rst term in the Eq. (9) is the product of total kW loss in the system 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 xed 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 nd out those locations with maximum inuence
on the system active power losses with respect to the node reactive
power. Sensitivity analysis is carried out also to nd the Loss Sensitivity 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 predict which bus will have the biggest loss reduction when a capacitor 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 candidate 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 I2ij  Rij , which can also be
expressed as,

Plineloss ij



P2effj Q 2effj  r ij
V j 2

11

Q lineloss ij

V j 2

12

where
Peff = Total effective active power supplied beyond the bus j.
Qeff = Total effective reactive power supplied beyond the bus j.

@Q effj

2  Q effj  r ij
V j 2

2  Q effj  xij

14

V j 2

Step 1: Calculate the Loss Sensitivity Factor:

LSF

@PLOSS
@ all the buses:
@Q

Step 2: LSF in Descending Order: Arrange the value of Loss Sensitivity Factor in descending order. Also store the respective
buses into bus position vector.
Step 3: Normalization: Calculate the normalized voltage
magnitudes

normi

Vi
of all the buses:
0:95

Vi
Step 4: Choose Candidate Buses: The buses whose normi 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 ow problem in power
system. To nd 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 different 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 specied 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
number of agents randomly chosen within the given search
interval using Eq. (15).

13

for i 1; 2; . . . ; N

15

Step 2: Fitness evolution and best tness computation for each

agent: Perform the tness evolution for all agents at each iteration and also nd the best and worst tness at every iteration
developed for minimization problems in the Eqs. (16) and (17).

bestt min fitj t

16

worstt max fitj t

17

j2f1;...;Ng

j2f1;...;Ng

Now, the Loss Sensitivity Factor (LSF) can be calculated as

@Plinelossij



X i x1i ; . . . ; xdi ; . . . ; xni ;

Similarly the Reactive power loss in the line is given by



P2eff j Q 2eff j  xij

@Q effj

Algorithm for sensitivity analysis

1mN
mn

V min 6 jV i j 6 V max

@Q linelossij

Step 3: Compute gravitational constant G: Determine gravitational constant G at iteration t using the Eq. (18),

Gt Go eat=T

18

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Y. Mohamed Shuaib et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 384397

Step 4: Calculate the mass of the agents: Find gravitational and

inertia masses for each one of the agents at iteration (t) by
the set of Eq. (19),

9
Mai Mpi M ii M i ; i 1; 2; . . . ; N >
>
>
=
fiti tworsti t
mi t besttworstt
>
>
>
Mi t PmN i t
;
m t
j1

Table 2
GSA parameters.

19

69 Bus

85 Bus

141 Bus

N = number of agents
Max iteration
Alfa
Gravitational time constant, G0

2000
400
20
100

2500
750
20
100

1700
500
20
100

1500
450
20
100

F di t
M ii t

The positions of N number of agents with n number of capacitor values are initialized randomly using the values of capacitors
given in Table 1.
The tness of each population is calculated using the objective
function and the population which has the best and worst tness is
taken into account for further calculations. The gravitational constant G is calculated using Eq. (18). Calculate the gravitational
and inertial masses of each agent at each iteration using the Eq.
(19). Calculate acceleration of the agents using the Eq. (20). Update
the velocity and position for (t + 1) generation using the Eq. (22).
Check whether the last iteration is reached or not. If not reached
the new population is selected from the old population randomly.

20

F di t, the total force acting on ith agent calculated from the Eq. (21),

F di t

33 Bus

Step 5: Calculate accelerations of the agents: Compute the acceleration of the ith agents at iteration t, Eq. (20),

adi t

GSA parameters

randj F dij t

21

j2Kbest;ji

Step 6: Update velocity and positions of the agents: Compute

velocity and the position of the agents at the next iteration
(t + 1) using Eq. (22)

v di t 1 randi  v di t adi t
xdi t 1 xdi t v di t 1

)
22

5.3. Parameters for GSA algorithm

To get an optimal solution using GSA algorithm, the following
list of parameters (Table 2) has been used to nd optimum capacitor values due to which the resulting solution yields the minimum
cost and the best voltage prole.
The performance of GSA in capacitor placement problem is estimated. Twenty independent trials have been made with 2000
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
evaluate 85 Bus & 141 Bus, the value of N is set to be 1700 & 1500
respectively and the maximum iteration is xed as 500 & 450
respectively. The value of Alfa and the gravitational time constant
G0 for all the cases are set to 20 and 100. The optimal results
attained using these considerations in the algorithm are tabulated
in Tables 38.

Step 7: Reprise from Steps 26 until iterations reach their maximum limit. Return the best tness computed at nal iteration
as a global tness of the problem and the positions of the corresponding agent at specied dimensions as the global solution
of that problem.
Application of GSA to capacitor placement problem
The characteristics of GSA includes using of coded structures of
the variables instead of the actual variables themselves. It uses
multiple point search instead of single point search, thereby identifying more peaks and reducing the probability of getting stuck in
local optima. The only information needed is the objective function
thereby making the implementation simpler.
If a population of strings P(t), during a tth generation is considered, a simple GSA with the above characteristics can be implemented as follows:

Overview of test systems

The programming technique for placement of capacitor has
been applied to the 33, 69, 85 and 141-Bus networks. The performance of the proposed method (GSA) over a recognized analytical
technique and a local search meta-heuristic namely Interior-Point
algorithm and Simulated Annealing respectively is also been performed. In order to test the mathematical statement, a 33 Bus
[33] RDN (Fig. 1) has been taken as an example system. The test
system consists of 33 Bus, 32 Lines. The rst bus is considered as
the substation bus. Loads are connected to all buses except the rst
bus which is the substation bus. The total active power load and
reactive power load of this test system are 3715 kW and 2300 kVAr
respectively. The substation voltage is 12.66 kV. Another IEEE 69Bus RDN test network portrayed in (Fig. 2) is employed for the
authentication of the proposed method. The specications of the
69 Bus system are taken from the citation [6]. The distribution network comprises of 69 Bus, 68 Lines. The total active power load and

Pseudo code of GSA

begin
t= 0;
initialize P(t);
evaluate strings in P(t);
calculate gravitational constant
calculate mass of agents
calculate acceleration of agents
while termination condition not satised do begin
next
t = t+1;
select P (t) from P (t1);
end
end

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

Cap. value
Cap. cost

10

11

12

13

14

150
0.5

350
0.35

450
0.253

600
0.22

800
0.276

900
0.183

1050
0.228

1200
0.17

1350
0.207

1500
0.201

1650
0.193

1800
0.87

1950
0.211

2100
0.176

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Y. Mohamed Shuaib et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 384397
Table 3
Comparison of network parameters using Interior Point algorithm, Simulated Annealing and GSA.
Parameter

Minimum voltage
(p.u.)
Active power loss
(kW)
Optimum locations
Capacitor ratings
(kVAr)
Total capacitor
value (kVAr)

Interior Point (IP)

SA

Proposed GSA

33 Bus

69 Bus

85 Bus

33 Bus

69 Bus

85 Bus

33 Bus

69 Bus

85 Bus

0.9501

0.9532

0.9621

0.9591

0.9500

0.9595

0.9672

0.9519

0.9611

171.78

163.28

179.85

151.75

155.45

158.25

134.5

145.9

143.019

9, 29, 30
450, 800,
900
2150

11, 29, 60
900, 1050,
450
2400

7, 21, 49, 57, 62, 69, 83, 85

150, 450, 350, 350, 150, 900,
1050, 1200
4600

10, 30, 14
450, 350,
900
1700

58, 11, 59
900, 450,
600
1950

22, 54, 71
900, 450,
800
2150

26, 13, 15
350, 450,
800
1600

26, 13, 15
150, 150,
1050
1350

8, 12, 29, 36, 68, 83

150, 150, 350, 450,
450, 1050
2600

Table 4
Net savings using IP, SA and GSA.
Parameter

Annual cost for kW loss

Annual capacitor cost
Total annual cost
Net savings
% Savings

IP

SA

Proposed GSA

33 Bus

69 Bus

85 Bus

33 Bus

69 Bus

85 Bus

33 Bus

69 Bus

85 Bus

28,859
499.35
29,358
6085
17%

27,431
517.95
27,949
9851
26%

30,215
1116.95
31,332
21,708
41%

28,859
401.05
29,260
6183
17.44%

26,116
410.55
26,526
11,274
29.83%

26,586
499.35
27,085
25,955
48.93%

24,511
451.5
24,963
12,837
34%

22,596
457.15
23,053
12,390
35%

24,027
739.6
24,767
28,273
53%

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

Un-compensated

Compensated

Author
Technique

AbulWafa
Base case

Analytical
IP

AbulWafa
A two stage method (GA)

AbulWafa
FRCGA

Proposed method
GSA

Citation
Year
Total losses (kW)
% Loss reduction
Candidate buses for capacitor placement
Optimal capacitor size (kVAr) ($168/kW)
Total kVAr
Annual cost for kW loss (A) ($)
Annual capacitor cost (B) ($/kVAr)
Total annual cost ($) (C = A + B)
Net savings ($) (D = 35442.96  C)
% Savings (E = D/35442.96)

[41]
2014
210.97

35442.96
0
35442.96
0
0.00%

2014
171.78
18.58%
9, 29, 30
450, 800, 900
2150
28859.04
499.35
29358.39
6084.57
17.17%

[33]
2013
144.04
31.72%
7, 29, 30
850, 25, 900
1775
24198.72
507.15
24705.87
10737.09
30.29%

[41]
2014
141.24
33.05%
28, 6, 29, 8, 30, 9
25, 475, 300, 175, 400, 350
1725
23728.32
492.86
24221.18
11221.78
31.66%

2014
134.5
36.25%
26, 13, 15
350, 450, 800
1600
22,596
457.15
23053.15
12389.81
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 system. The single line diagram of the system is exemplied 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 efcacy 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 simple, 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 networks 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
Intel 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 commercially 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.

390

Table 6
Performance of GSA over IP, DSA, two stage method, DE-PS, CSA and TLBO-69 Bus RDN.
Un-compensated

Compensated

Author
Technique

Baran & Wu
Base case

Analytical
IP

Raju et al.
DSA

AbulWafa
Two stage method

El-Fergany
DE-PS

El-Fergany et al.
CSA

Sultana & Roy

TLBO

Proposed method
GSA

Citation
Year
Total losses (kW)
Loss reduction (%)
Candidate buses for capacitor placement
Optimal capacitor size (kVAr)
Total kVAr
Annual cost for kW loss (A) ($)
Annual capacitor cost (B) ($/kVAr)
Total annual cost ($) (C = A + B)
Net savings ($) (D = 37,800  C)
% Savings (E = D/37,800)

7
1989
225

37,800
0
37,800
0
0.00%

2014
163.28
27.43
11, 29, 60
900, 1050, 450
2400
27431.04
517.95
27948.99
9851.01
26.06%

32
2012
147
34.67
61, 15, 60
900, 450, 450
1800
24,696
392.4
25088.4
12711.6
33.63%

33
2013
148.91
33.82
19, 62, 63
225, 900, 225
1350
25016.88
322.5
25339.38
12460.62
32.96%

34
2013
151.38
32.72
57, 58, 61, 60, 59, 64

1450
25431.84
316.1
25747.94
12052.06
31.88%

37
2013
147.95
34.24
21, 62
250, 1200
1450
24855.6
291.5
25147.1
12652.9
33.47%

38
2014
146.35
34.96
12, 61, 64
600, 1050, 150
1800
24586.8
446.4
25033.2
12766.8
33.77%

2014
145.9
35.16
26, 13, 15
150, 150, 1050
1350
24511.2
451.5
24962.7
12837.3
33.96%

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

Un-compensated

Compensated

Author

Sayyad Nojavan
et al.

Analytical
IP

PGSA

DSA

TLBO

MINLP

GSA

Citation
Year
Total losses
% Loss reduction
Candidate buses for capacitor
placement
Optimal capacitor size (kVAr)

[40]
2014
315.714

2014
179.85
42.30
7, 21, 49, 57, 62, 69, 83, 85

[27]
2011
161.4
48.22
8, 58, 7

[38]
2014
143.18
54.07
4, 7, 9, 21, 26, 31, 45, 49, 55, 61, 68, 83, 85

[40]
2014
159.87
48.71
7, 8, 29, 58

2014
143.019
54.12
8, 12, 29, 36, 68, 83

Total kVAr
Annual cost for kW loss (A) ($)
Annual capacitor cost (B) ($/kVAr)
Total annual cost ($) (C = A + B)
Net savings ($)
(D = 53039.952  C)
% Savings (E = D/53039.952)

53039.952
0
53039.952
0

150, 450, 350, 350, 150, 900, 1050,

1200
4600
30214.8
1116.95
31331.75
21708.202

1200, 908,
200
2308
27115.2
470.164
27585.364
25454.588

[32]
2012
144.01
53.80
36, 69 & other 12
Buses
450, 300, (150 * 12)

0.00%

40.93%

47.99%

Technique

Rao et al.

Raju et al.

Sultana and Roy

Nojavan et al.

Proposed method

2550
24193.68
1118.85
25312.53
27727.422

300, 150, 300, 150, 150, 300, 150, 150, 150, 300, 300, 300, 700, 900,
150, 150
500
2700
2400
24054.24
26858.16
1212.5
589.4
25266.74
27447.56
27773.212
25592.392

150, 150, 350, 450, 450,

1050
2600
24027.192
739.6
24766.792
28273.16

52.28%

52.36%

53.31%

48.25%

Y. Mohamed Shuaib et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 384397

Item

391

Y. Mohamed Shuaib et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 384397
Table 8
Performance of GSA over IP, SA, MILP and TLBO-141 Bus RDN.
Item

Uncompensated

Compensated

Technique/author

Base case/Khodr
et al.

IP/analytical

SA

MILP/Khodr et al.

TLBO/Sultana et al.

GSA/Proposed
method

Citation
Year
Total losses
% Loss reduction
Candidate buses for capacitor
placement
Optimal capacitor size (kVAr)

[22]
2008
116

2014
99.09
14.58
11, 33, 86, 99, 121

55.75
51.94
8. 41, 63, 75, 99, 121

[22]
2008
45.26
60.98
23, 50, 55, 64, 79, 94

2014
45.74
60.57
23, 50, 55, 64, 80, 99

Total kVAr
Annual cost for kW loss (A) ($)
Annual capacitor cost (B) ($/
kVAr)
Total annual cost ($)
(C = A + B)
Net savings ($)
(D = 19,488  C)
% Savings (E = D/19,488)

19,488
0

150, 350, 800,

900, 1200
3400
16647.12
787

150, 150, 150, 150,

150, 2100
2850
9366
744.6

300, 300, 300, 300,

300, 300
1800
7603.68
630

[38]
2014
44.59
61.56
26, 42, 46, 49, 61,
115
900, 900, 900, 900,
750, 900
5250
7491.12
1030.5

19,488

17434.12

10110.6

8233.68

8521.62

8229.32

2053.88

9377.4

11254.32

10966.38

11258.68

0.00%

10.54%

48.12%

57.75%

56.27%

57.77%

150, 350, 350, 150,

150, 150
1500
7684.32
545

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.
Preeminence of GSA over other algorithms
AbulWafa [41] in 2014 carried out capacitor placement problem 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.

The total kVAr installed through conservatively tried out analytical 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 reduction 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 efcacy 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.
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) 384397

Fig. 2. Line diagram of 69 Bus RDN.

Fig. 3. Line diagram of 85 Bus RDN.

393

Y. Mohamed Shuaib et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 384397
Table A01
85 Bus RDN line data.

Table A01 (continued)

Line number

From bus

To bus

Resistance (Ohm)

Reactance (Ohms)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
2
3
5
18
19
20
21
19
7
8
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
26
27
29
32
40
41
41
34
44
45
46
35
48
49
50
48
52
53
52
49
9
57
58
58
60
61
60
63
64
65
64
67
68
69
70
67
68
73
73
70

2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76

0.108
0.163
0.217
0.108
0.435
0.272
1.197
0.108
0.598
0.544
0.544
0.598
0.272
0.326
0.728
0.455
0.82
0.637
0.455
0.819
1.548
0.182
0.91
0.455
0.364
0.546
0.273
0.546
0.546
0.273
0.182
0.182
0.819
0.637
0.182
0.364
1.002
0.546
0.455
1.002
0.273
0.455
1.002
0.911
0.911
0.546
0.637
0.182
0.364
0.455
1.366
0.455
0.546
0.546
0.546
0.273
0.819
0.182
0.546
0.728
1.002
0.182
0.728
0.182
0.182
0.455
0.91
1.092
0.455
0.546
0.182
1.184
0.273
1.002
0.546

0.075
0.112
0.149
0.074
0.298
0.186
0.82
0.074
0.41
0.373
0.373
0.41
0.186
0.223
0.302
0.189
0.34
0.264
0.189
0.34
0.642
0.075
0.378
0.189
0.151
0.226
0.113
0.226
0.226
0.113
0.075
0.075
0.34
0.264
0.075
0.151
0.416
0.226
0.189
0.416
0.113
0.189
0.416
0.378
0.378
0.226
0.264
0.075
0.151
0.189
0.567
0.189
0.226
0.226
0.226
0.113
0.34
0.075
0.226
0.302
0.415
0.075
0.302
0.075
0.075
0.189
0.378
0.453
0.189
0.226
0.075
0.491
0.113
0.416
0.226

Line number

From bus

To bus

Resistance (Ohm)

Reactance (Ohms)

76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84

65
10
67
12
80
81
81
83
13

77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85

0.091
0.637
0.546
0.728
0.364
0.091
1.092
1.002
0.819

0.037
0.264
0.226
0.302
0.151
0.037
0.453
0.416
0.34

Compensated
Using GSA, the capacitors of rating 150, 150 and 1050 kVAr are
placed at the optimal locations 26, 13 and 15 respectively. The
optimal locations are found using sensitivity analysis. As a result,
the kW loss is reduced to 145.9 kW from the base case of
225 kW witnessing a 35.16% of kW loss reduction. The lowest voltage is found to be 0.9511 p.u. at 44th bus. The annual cost incurred
for kW loss is calculated as $24511.2. The amount spent over the
installation of capacitors is been calculated as $451.15. 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 $12837.3 which leads to 33.96%
of net savings.
Preeminence of GSA over other algorithms
Raju et al. [32] in 2012 handled the capacitor placement problem using DSA and reduced the kW losses to 147 kW by installing
a capacitor size of 1800 kVAr due to which the net savings is 33.63.
In the year 2013, AbulWafa [33] has proposed a two stage method
to improve the net savings (32.96%) in which he used loss sensitivity technique for the determination of the candidate buses and
Genetic Algorithm to know the ratings of the capacitors. El-Fergany
[34], hybrided Differential Evolution (DE) with Pattern Search (PS)
to develop a meta-heuristic optimization tool for solving the objective function in which the author handled it using both deterministic and stochastic methodologies of diverse complications to
achieve net saving of 31.88%. During 2013, El-Fergany et al. [37]
minimized the total expenditure to $25147.1 achieving 33.47%
net savings with the help of CSA. Out of the total expenses towards
the capacitor sizing and placement, 33.77% has been saved by Sultana & Roy [38] using TLBO where the total kVAr installed is 1800
kVAr. The ratings of the capacitor banks installed through conservatively tried out analytical IP and SA are 2400 kVAr and 1950
kVAr respectively. By which the net savings out the total annual
cost incurred for the placement of the capacitor are $9851.01 using
IP and $11,274 using SA which yields a net saving of 26.06% and
29.83% respectively from both the methods (Table 3).
In this paper, GSA algorithm is proposed and the percentage of
loss reduction is 35.16%, where the percentage of loss reduction is
more when compared to all the results arrived using various algorithmic techniques. The percentage of net savings is 33.96% which
is also more than any other techniques. This proves the efcacy of
the proposed algorithm. The results of 69 Bus test system and the
result comparison of the proposed algorithm with the other optimization techniques have been tabulated in Table 6.
85 Bus test system
Un-compensated
With no capacitors installed in RDN and for the given total active
power load of 2550 kW, the kW loss is calibrated as 315.714 kW
[40]. The minimum voltage is registered as 0.9240 p.u. at the 54th
bus. The annual cost incurred for 315.714 kW is calculated as
$53039.952.

394

Y. Mohamed Shuaib et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 384397

Table A02
141 Bus RDN line data & demand prole.

Table A02 (continued)

From bus

To bus

kVA

kW

kVAr

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
27
26
27
28
61
60
63
64
65
66
67
29
30
31
2
33
5
5
6
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
38
42
54
55
56
57
58
55
60
63
66
70
70
42
73
43
44

2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
23
29
62
63
64
65
66
67
63
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76

0.0577
0.1725
0.0009
0.0092
0.0068
0.0469
0.0736
0.0649
0.0507
0.0116
0.1291
0.1227
0.0488
0.0957
0.0860
0.0398
0.0828
0.0186
0.0559
0.0365
0.0573
0.0263
0.0683
0.0398
0.0729
0.0335
0.0584
0.0655
0.0411
0.0353
0.1047
0.0674
0.0302
0.0456
0.0218
0.0342
0.0128
0.0347
0.0443
0.0020
0.2274
0.1265
0.0055
0.2036
0.0938
0.0347
0.0918
0.2318
0.1207
0.0443
0.0405
0.0160
0.0636
0.0417
0.0732
0.0828
0.0398
0.0225
0.0841
0.0019
0.0527
0.0893
0.0867
0.0674
0.0469
0.0334
0.0327
0.0366
0.0231
0.0120
0.0700
0.0231
0.0030
0.0379
0.0552

0.0409
0.1223
0.0006
0.0065
0.0049
0.0625
0.0981
0.0459
0.0359
0.0082
0.0913
0.0866
0.0345
0.0677
0.0609
0.0282
0.0566
0.0132
0.0395
0.0246
0.0307
0.0191
0.0497
0.0282
0.0530
0.0244
0.0414
0.0463
0.0291
0.0250
0.0741
0.0477
0.0214
0.0323
0.0154
0.0248
0.0091
0.0245
0.0314
0.0009
0.0554
0.1565
0.0073
0.1440
0.0663
0.0245
0.0650
0.1640
0.0854
0.0314
0.0288
0.0127
0.0450
0.0295
0.0510
0.0556
0.0282
0.0159
0.0595
0.0114
0.0373
0.0632
0.0613
0.0477
0.0332
0.0236
0.0232
0.0259
0.0164
0.0029
0.0495
0.0164
0.0064
0.0268
0.0391

0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
75.00
10.00
0.00
0.00
25.00
75.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
150.00
0.00
0.00
75.00
75.00
0.00
75.00
0.00
0.00
150.00
75.00
0.00
75.00
200.00
0.00
300.00
150.00
225.00
50.00
100.00
0.00
0.00
150.00
0.00
150.00
300.00
150.00
50.00
0.00
20.00
0.00
75.00
0.00
0.00
50.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
125.00
150.00
0.00
125.00
75.00
100.00
0.00
0.00
25.00
0.00
300.00
150.00
0.00
300.00
300.00
0.00
300.00
150.00
300.00
300.00
45.00
75.00

0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
45.01
8.16
0.00
0.00
20.41
61.28
0.00
0.00
0.00
122.39
0.00
0.00
61.25
62.19
0.00
60.69
0.00
0.00
121.32
60.62
0.00
61.24
163.23
0.00
244.88
122.44
183.58
40.80
81.68
0.00
0.00
122.54
0.00
136.79
291.47
94.29
30.09
0.00
16.33
0.00
61.21
0.00
0.00
40.79
0.00
0.00
0.00
102.05
123.07
0.00
101.99
61.25
81.63
0.00
0.00
20.41
0.00
244.88
122.43
0.00
244.67
244.89
0.00
291.61
122.47
244.62
127.33
36.74
61.20

0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
59.99
5.77
0.00
0.00
14.44
43.25
0.00
0.00
0.00
86.72
0.00
0.00
43.28
41.92
0.00
44.07
0.00
0.00
88.21
44.16
0.00
43.29
115.57
0.00
173.31
86.65
130.09
28.90
57.70
0.00
0.00
86.52
0.00
61.55
71.01
116.66
39.93
0.00
11.54
0.00
43.34
0.00
0.00
28.91
0.00
0.00
0.00
72.19
85.75
0.00
72.27
43.28
57.76
0.00
0.00
14.44
0.00
173.30
86.67
0.00
173.59
173.29
0.00
70.47
86.61
173.67
271.64
25.98
43.35

From bus

To bus

kVA

kW

kVAr

46
76
78
79
79
81
47
49
50
85
86
7
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
89
96
97
97
131
131
121
16
16
16
23
99
91
101
102
103
104
104
92
94
108
94
7
10
11
13
114
115
14
15
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
119
25
30
31

77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
139
140
141

0.0516
0.0167
0.0415
0.1003
0.1513
0.0033
0.0085
0.0517
0.0147
0.0037
0.0037
0.0174
0.0469
0.0299
0.0212
0.0315
0.0280
0.0206
0.0206
0.0687
0.0970
0.0902
0.0033
0.0347
0.0920
0.0841
0.0527
0.0302
0.0584
0.0769
0.0033
0.0231
0.0578
0.0889
0.0629
0.1170
0.0114
0.0849
0.0612
0.0452
0.0033
0.0719
0.1070
0.0347
0.0623
0.0668
0.0040
0.0506
0.0161
0.0462
0.0424
0.0507
0.0732
0.0584
0.0610
0.0783
0.0834
0.0347
0.0570
0.0585
0.0103
0.0355
0.0950
0.0519
0.0584

0.0436
0.0110
0.0101
0.0244
0.0370
0.0008
0.0062
0.0449
0.0036
0.0016
0.0016
0.0231
0.0625
0.0398
0.0283
0.0420
0.0373
0.0274
0.0274
0.0486
0.0686
0.0196
0.0008
0.0245
0.0669
0.0612
0.0373
0.0214
0.0414
0.0559
0.0008
0.0164
0.0409
0.0217
0.0153
0.0285
0.0026
0.0207
0.0260
0.0192
0.0008
0.0509
0.0261
0.0245
0.0441
0.0473
0.0010
0.0366
0.0114
0.0327
0.0300
0.0359
0.0518
0.0414
0.0432
0.0554
0.0607
0.0245
0.0420
0.0425
0.0073
0.0253
0.0673
0.0377
0.0414

150.00
0.00
502.50
750.00
0.00
150.00
75.00
225.00
0.00
500.00
150.00
75.00
65.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
110.00
0.00
150.00
0.00
300.00
0.00
75.00
45.00
35.00
25.00
75.00
55.00
50.00
300.00
15.00
0.00
125.00
0.00
300.00
150.00
502.50
0.00
750.00
750.00
25.00
500.00
75.00
0.00
0.00
300.00
65.00
0.00
110.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
100.00
125.00
0.00
0.00
75.00
75.00
110.00
112.50
0.00
50.00
150.00
75.00

114.58
0.00
488.25
728.75
0.00
145.78
60.59
169.88
0.00
458.93
137.68
45.12
39.01
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
66.10
0.00
122.46
0.00
293.16
0.00
61.27
36.39
28.30
20.41
61.19
44.87
40.44
291.56
12.23
0.00
121.43
0.00
291.48
146.24
488.20
0.00
690.30
728.89
20.40
485.76
61.27
0.00
0.00
291.04
52.67
0.00
89.79
0.00
0.00
0.00
81.58
102.01
0.00
0.00
61.27
60.38
88.99
91.79
0.00
40.80
121.36
61.19

96.81
0.00
118.83
177.28
0.00
35.34
44.20
147.53
0.00
198.46
59.54
59.91
51.99
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
87.92
0.00
86.63
0.00
63.70
0.00
43.26
26.47
20.59
14.44
43.36
31.81
29.40
70.68
8.68
0.00
29.64
0.00
71.00
33.35
119.03
0.00
293.23
176.70
14.44
118.49
43.26
0.00
0.00
72.76
38.09
0.00
63.55
0.00
0.00
0.00
57.83
72.24
0.00
0.00
43.26
44.49
64.65
65.05
0.00
28.90
88.16
43.37

h = tan1 X/R in degrees.

Power factor of the load = cos h.
Real power load (kW) = cos(tan1 X/R)  kVA = (cos h)  kVA.
Reactive power load (kVAr) = tan(h)  kW.

Compensated
As a result of the compensation process, the Capacitors of rating
150, 150, 350, 450, 450 and 1050 kVAr are placed at the optimal

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Y. Mohamed Shuaib et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 64 (2015) 384397

locations 8, 12, 29, 36, 68 and 83 respectively. The optimal locations are obtained by sensitivity analysis. As a result, the kW loss
is reduced to 143.019 kW from the base case of 315.714 kW witnessing a 54.12% of real power loss reduction. The worst voltage
is found to be 0.9616 p.u. at 54th bus which is satisfying the voltage constraint. The yearly cost incurred for active power loss is calculated as $24027.192. The amount spent over the installation of
capacitors is been calculated as $739.6. 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 $28273.16 which leads to 53.31% of
net savings.

Preeminence of GSA over other algorithms

Rao et al. [27] in 2011 done capacitor placement problem
using PGSA and reduced the kW losses to 161.4 kW by installing
a capacitor size of 2308 kVAr which in turn saved 47.99% of the
total annual cost incurred for the installation. In the year 2012,
Raju et al. [32] proposed DSA for improving the net savings to
52.28%. In the year 2014, Roy [38] addressed the mathematical
problem and achieved the same by minimizing the loss to
143.18 kW and saved 52.36% to the total amount spent over loss
reduction. Same year 2014, Nojavan et al. [40] minimized the
total expenditure to $27447.56 achieving 48.25% net savings
with the help of MINLP.
The total kVAr installed through conservatively tried out analytical Interior-Point technique and Simulated Annealing Technique
are 4600 kVAr and 2150 kVAr respectively. By which the net savings out the total annual cost incurred for the placement of the
capacitor are $21708.202 using IP and $25,955 using SA which
yields a net saving of 40.93% and 48.93% respectively from both
the methods (Table 3).
In this paper, GSA algorithm is proposed and the percentage of
loss reduction is 54.12%, where the percentage of loss reduction is
more when compared to all the results arrived using various algorithmic techniques. The percentage of net savings is 53.31% which
is also more than any other techniques. This proves the efcacy of
the proposed algorithm. The results of 85 Bus test system and the
result comparison of the proposed algorithm with the other optimization techniques have been tabulated in Table 7.

Table A03
85 Bus RDN load data.
Bus number

(kW)

Bus number

(kW)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66

0.00
0.00
0.00
56.00
0.00
35.28
0.00
35.28
0.00
0.00
56.00
0.00
0.00
35.28
35.28
35.28
112.00
56.00
56.00
35.28
35.28
35.28
35.28
35.28
14.00
0.00
0.00
36.28
56.00
0.00
35.28
56.00
56.00
14.00
56.00
0.00
56.00
0.00
56.00
56.00
14.00
0.00
0.00
56.00

23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85

56.00
35.28
35.28
56.00
56.00
35.28
0.00
35.28
14.00
0.00
35.28
0.00
0.00
56.00
56.00
56.00
35.28
35.28
0.00
35.28
35.28
35.28
0.00
0.00
56.00
0.00
35.28
56.00
0.00
56.00
35.28
56.00
14.00
56.00
35.28
56.00
0.00
56.00
35.28
14.00
35.28

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 calculated 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 problem 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 analytical Interior-Point technique and Simulated Annealing Technique
are 3400 kVAr and 2850 kVAr respectively. By which the net savings 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 methods (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 algorithmic techniques. The percentage of net savings is 57.77% which
is also more than any other techniques. This proves the efcacy 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) 384397

result comparison of the proposed algorithm with the other optimization techniques have been tabulated in Table 8.
Conclusion
This work proposes GSA for optimal placement and sizing of
xed capacitor banks so as to minimize the kW loss of the Radial
Distribution Network (RDN) and maximize the net savings. The
capacitor placement problem in a RDN is a discontinuous solution
space problem with discrete zero-one variables and objective that
call for the verdict of nding the best candidate locations for locating capacitors of optimal ratings in the RDN such that the outcome
yields the maximum percentage of cost saved with best voltage
prole. The GSA technique is found predominantly appropriate
for answering optimization problems with discontinuous solution
space and objectives when the global optimum is desired. The optimal solution in GSA is achieved by movement of agents in search
space and its direction is based on the overall force of all other
agents. Therefore, the search direction en route for the optimal
solution is effective in this algorithm. The recommended method
is veried on reputable 33-Bus, 69-Bus, 85-Bus and 141-Bus
RDN. The results attained make evident that the GSA method is
superior to few other techniques discussed in preceding literatures
in terms of solving the objective function.
Appendix A. Nomenclature

Kp
K cfc
Qfc
Vj
Pj
Qj
dj
Pacc
Qacc
Pmn(loss)
Vmin
Vmax
Qi
Rij
xdi
tj (t)
best (t)
worst
(t)
Mai
Mpi
Mii
F di t

annual cost disbursed (cost/kW)

capacitor cost spent for one unit of kVAr (cost/kVAr)
xed capacitor bank rating (kVAr)
voltage magnitude of the jth bus
real power injection at the jth bus
reactive power injection at the jth bus
phase angle at the jth bus
real power accumulated
reactive power accumulated
real power loss in the line connecting mth and nth
bus
minimum voltage limit
maximum voltage limit
reactive power load demand in the bus i
resistance in the line connecting the ith and jth bus
positions of the ith agent in the dth dimension
tness of the jth agent at iteration t
best tness at generation t
worst tness at generation t
active gravitational mass of the ith agent
passive gravitational mass of the ith agent
inertia mass of the ith agent
total force acting on ith agent

See Tables A01A03.

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