Products

GOLD for Cap
A Global Optimal- Linked Computer Package for Distribution
Systems Capacitor Placement and Control
Version 3

Capacitors are widely installed in distribution systems for reactive power compensation to achieve power and energy reduction, voltage regulation, and system capacity release. The extent of these benefits depends greatly on how the capacitors are placed within the system. The problem of how to place capacitors within the system so that these benefits are achieved and/or maximized against the cost associated with the capacitor placement is termed the general capacitor placement and control problem.

The general capacitor placement and control problem consists of determining:

• The locations at which to install or replace capacitors
• The types and sizes of capacitors to be installed
• The control schemes for the capacitors of a distribution system such that an objective function is minimized while the load constraints, operational constraints (e.g. the voltage profile) and engineering constraints at different load levels are satisfied.

To handle the capacitor placement and control problem, BSI has developed a novel and comprehensive problem formulation of the capacitor placements and controls for general distributions systems. The novel problem formulation addresses the issues of how to optimally determine (i) the locations to install (or replace, or remove) capacitors, (ii) the types and sizes of capacitors to be installed (or replaced), and (iii) during each load level, the control schemes for each capacitor for a general three-phase unbalanced distribution system such that a desired objective function is minimized while the network constraints, load constraints, and operational constraints operate at different load levels.

BSI has developed an integrated computer package, GOLD-cap (Version 3) with the following modeling capability and features.

Comprehensive Modeling Capability

• Primary power networks
• Three-phase transformers with off-nominal tap ratios as well as core and copper losses
• The different winding connections of three-phase transformers such as
  • grounded wye-grounded wye connections
  • grounded wye-delta connections, etc.
• Cogenerators
• Nonlinear load models
• Voltage sensitive load models for
  • single-phase
  • two-phase
  • three-phase loads
• Shunt capacitors
• Reactors

Package Features

• A solution algorithm based on the extended simulated annealing technique for a global optimal solution which gives the best solution for solving the general capacitor placement and control problem
• A solution algorithm based on engineering heuristics for a quick, local optimal solution
• Currently is being used by several industrial users
• Numerical simulation results of GOLD-Cap (version 3) on practical distribution networks with excellent results
• Implemented using C++