Optimal Energy-Efficient Integration of Wind Distributed Generators in a Hybrid AC-DC Network Using a Tunicate Swarm Algorithm

Abstract

Due to improvements in wind energy technology, electrical distribution networks are becoming more capable of integrating large amounts of variable renewable generation. The wind distributed generators (WDGs) affect the medium-voltage (MV) electrical distribution network (EDN) by introducing variability, reverse power flows, power-quality issues, and higher fault levels. This paper applies a brand-new, reliable, and efficient algorithm, the tunicate swarm algorithm (TSA), to optimally link varying numbers of WDG units and allocate multiple WDG units in EDN. The main objective of this research is to propose an applied TSA algorithm for optimal energy-efficient integration of multiple WDG units in a hybrid medium‐voltage AC-DC network and to test it in a modified IEEE 33-bus network based on the active power loss minimization. The proposed approach granted improved solution quality with enhanced convergence speed and adherence to EDN constraints. The applied TSA addresses the sensitivity to parameter settings like population size and iterations. The findings verify that, out of all the scenarios taken into consideration, three WDGs offer the best performance in terms of active loss minimization and improve the bus voltage profile.