Electric Power Systems Research 75 (2005) 190–199

Distribution network reconfiguration for loss reduction

by ant colony search algorithm
Ching-Tzong Su a , Chung-Fu Chang b,∗ , Ji-Pyng Chiou c
a Department of Electrical Engineering, WuFeng Institute of Technology, Chiayi 621, Taiwan
b Institute of Electrical Engineering, National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi 621, Taiwan
c Institute of Electrical Engineering, Mingchi University of Technology, Taipei 243, Taiwan

Received 22 October 2004; received in revised form 18 March 2005; accepted 18 March 2005
Available online 10 May 2005

Abstract

This paper introduces an ant colony search algorithm (ACSA) to solve the optimal network reconfiguration problem for power loss reduction.
The ACSA is a relatively new and powerful intelligence evolution method for solving optimization problems. It is a population-based approach
that uses exploration of positive feedback as well as greedy search. The ACSA was inspired from natural behavior of the ant colonies on how
they find the food source and bring them back to their nest by building the unique trail formation. By applying the ACSA, the near-optimal
solution to the network reconfiguration problem can be effectively achieved. The ACSA applies the state transition rule, local pheromone-
updating rule, and global pheromone-updating rule to facilitate the computation. The network reconfiguration problem of one three-feeder
distribution system from the literature and one practical distribution network of Taiwan Power Company (TPC) are, respectively, solved using
the proposed ACSA method, the genetic algorithm (GA), and the simulated annealing (SA). Numerical results show that the proposed method
is better than the other two methods.
© 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Ant colony search algorithm (ACSA); Simulated annealing (SA); Genetic algorithm (GA); Network reconfiguration; Power loss reduction

1. Introduction network reconfiguration is a complicated combinatorial, non-

Distribution systems consist of groups of interconnected
radial circuits. The configuration may be varied via switch-
ing operations to transfer loads among the feeders. Two types
of switches are used in primary distribution systems. There
are normally closed switches (sectionalizing switches) and
normally open switches (tie switches). Those two types of
switches are designed for both protection and configura-
tion management. Network reconfiguration is the process
of changing the topology of distribution systems by altering
the open/closed status of switches. Because there are many
candidate-switching combinations in the distribution system,
∗
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: ieects@ccunix.ccu.edu.tw (C.-T. Su),
ieects@ccunix.ccu.edu.tw (C.-F. Chang), jipyngs@mail.mit.edu.tw
(J.-P. Chiou).
differentiable constrained optimization problem.
Civanlar et al. [1] conducted the early research on feeder
reconfiguration for loss reduction. In [2], Baran and Wu mod-
elled the problem of loss reduction and load balancing as an
integer programming problem. In [3,4], the authors used a
genetic algorithm to look for the minimum loss configura-
tion. In [5–7], the authors presented the use of the power
flow method based on a heuristic algorithm to determine the
minimum loss configuration to radial distribution networks.
In [8–10], the authors proposed a solution procedure which
employed simulated annealing to search for an acceptable
non-inferior solution. The authors in [11] outlined and vali-
dated a methodology for optimizing the operation of mega-
volt (MV) distribution networks. In [12], the authors have
considered time varying load on the analysis to loss reduc-
tion. In [13], the authors employed bidirectional feeder mod-
els to simplify calculation for distribution systems. In [14],

0378-7796/$ – see front matter © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.epsr.2005.03.002
 C.-T. Su et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 75 (2005) 190–199
the authors proposed an EGA-based fuzzy multi-objective
approach to solve the network reconfiguration problem. In
[15,16], the fuzzy theory and evolutionary programming were
employed to solve the problem of feeder reconfiguration. In
[17], the authors proposed an economic operation model to
solve distribution network configuration. Although the stud-
ied problem had been solved by the above methods, either its
optimality is not guaranteed or much of computation time is
required.
Thanks to the advancement of computational ability, there
has been growing attention in algorithms inspired by the
observation of natural phenomena to help solving complex
combinatorial problems in the last decades. Colorni and co-
workers [18,19] proposed the concept of ant system (AS) and
applied it to the traveling salesman problems (TSP) [20,21].
Ant algorithm has been inspired by the behavior of real ant
colonies, in particular, by their foraging behavior. As it is
well known, real ants are capable of finding the shortest path
from food sources to the nest without using visual cues. Re-
cently, the ant algorithm has been applied to various optimiza-
tion problems, such as the short-term generation scheduling
problem [22], unit commitment [23], hydroelectric genera-
tion scheduling [24], and so on.
In this paper, a method employing the ant colony search
algorithm (ACSA) is proposed to solve the network reconfig-
uration problems. The merits of the ACSA are parallel search
and optimization capabilities. This method was inspired by
the observation of the behaviors of ant colonies. The ACSA
used in this paper uses artificial ants, which to some extent
have memory and are not completely blind, thus can be ap-
plied to the network reconfiguration problem in which switch
is discrete. The state transition rule, global, and local updating
rules are introduced to ensure the optimal solution. In order
to demonstrate the effectiveness, the proposed approach is
applied to two example systems. One is a three-feeder dis-
tribution system from the literature and another is a practical
distribution network of Taiwan Power Company (TPC), both
are solved, respectively, by the proposed methods, SA and
GA. From the computational results, it is observed that the
convergence property of the ACSA method is better than that
of the other two methods.
This paper is organized as follows. The problem descrip-
tion is formulated in Section 2. The paradigm of the proposed
method is introduced in Section 3. The computation proce-
dure is described in Section 4. Numerical results are given in
Section 5. Finally, the conclusion is given in Section 6.
2. Problem formulation
This objective of the model describing the studied problem
is to minimize the system power loss, subject to operating
constraints under a certain load pattern. This model can be
expressed as follows:
min F = min (PT,Loss + λV SCV + λI SCI ) (1)
191
where PT,Loss is the total real power loss of the system. Pa-
rameters λV and λI are the penalty constants, SCV the squared
sum of the violated voltage constraints, and SCI is the squared
sum of the violated current constraints. Moreover, the penalty
constants are determined as follows:
(1) Constant λV (λI ) is given a value of 0, if the associated
voltage (current) constraint is not violated.
(2) A significant value is given to λV (λI ) if the associated
voltage (current) constraint is violated; this makes the
objective function to move away from the undesirable
solution.
For secure operation, the voltage magnitude at each bus
must be maintained within its limits. The current in each
branch must satisfy the branch’s capacity. These constraints
are expressed below:
Vmin ≤ |Vi | ≤ Vmax (2)
|Ii | ≤ Ii,max (3)
where |Vi | is voltage magnitude of bus i, Vmin and Vmax are
minimum and maximum bus voltage limits, respectively. |Ii |
and Ii,max are current magnitude and maximum current limit
of branch i, respectively.
The proposed method uses a set of simplified feeder-line
flow formulations for power flow analysis to prevent compli-
cated computation. Referring to Fig. 1, this set of simplified
formulations can be described as [2]
Pi2 + Q2i
Pi = Pi+1 + PLi+1 + Ri,i+1 (4)
|Vi |2
Pi2 + Q2i
Qi = Qi+1 + QLi+1 + Xi,i+1 (5)
|Vi |2
|Vi+1 |2 = |Vi |2 − 2(Ri,i+1 Pi + Xi,i+1 )
Pi2 + Q2i
+ (R2i,i+1 + Xi,i+1
2
) (6)
|Vi |2
where Pi and Qi are the real and reactive line powers flowing
out of bus i, respectively, PLi and QLi are the real and reactive
load powers at bus i. The resistance and reactance of the
line section between buses i and (i + 1) are denoted by Ri,i+1
and Xi,i+1 , respectively. The power loss of the line section
Fig. 1. Single-line diagram of a main feeder.
192 C.-T. Su et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 75 (2005) 190–199
connecting buses i and (i + 1) can be computed as
Pi2 + Q2i
PLoss (i, i + 1) = Ri,i+1
|Vi |2
The power loss of the feeder PF,Loss may then be deter-
mined by summing the losses of all line sections of the feeder,
as below
n−1

to the problem. This concept develops the emergence of the
PF,Loss = PLoss (i, i + 1)
i=0
The total system power loss PT,Loss is the sum of power
losses of all feeders in the system.
3. ACSA paradigm
3.1. Ant colony behavior
The ACSA imitates the behaviors of real ants. As is well
known, real ants are capable of finding the shortest path from
food sources to the nest without using visual cues. Also, they
are capable of adapting to changes in the environment, for
example, finding a new shortest path once the old one is no
longer feasible due to a new obstacle. Moreover, the ants
could manage to establish shortest paths through the medium
that is called “pheromone”. The pheromone is the material
deposited by the ants, which serves as critical communication
information among ants, thereby guiding the determination
of the next movement. Any trial that is rich of pheromone
will thus become the goal path. The process is illustrated in
Fig. 2. In Fig. 2(a), the ants are moving from food source A
to the nest B on a straight line. Once an obstacle appears as
shown in Fig. 2(b), the path is cut off. The ants will not be
able to follow the original trial in their movements. Under
this situation, they have the same probability to turn right or
left. Fig. 2(c) depicts that the shorter path will collect larger
amount of pheromone than the longer path. Hence, more ants
will be increasingly guided to move on the shorter path. Due
to this autocatalytic process, very soon all ants will choose the
Fig. 2. An example of the real ant’s behavior.
shorter path. This behavior forms the fundamental paradigm
of the ant colony search algorithm.
(7)
3.2. State transition rule and local/global updating rule
As illustrated in Fig. 2, by the guidance of the pheromone
intensity, the ants select preferable path. Finally, the favorite
path rich of pheromone becomes the best tour, the solution
(8) ACSA method. At first, each ant is placed on a starting state.
Each will build a full path, from the beginning to the end
state, through the repetitive application of state transition rule.
While constructing its tour, an ant also modifies the amount of
pheromone on the visited path by applying the local updating
rule. Once all ants have terminated their tour, the amount
of pheromone on edge is modified again through the global
updating rule. In other words, the pheromone-updating rules
are designed so that they tend to give more pheromone to
paths which should be visited by ants. In the following, the
state transition rule, the local updating rule, and the global
updating rule are briefly introduced.
3.2.1. State transition rule
The state transition rule used by the ant system, called a
random-proportional rule, is given by (9), which gives the
probability with which ant k in node i chooses to move to
node j.
 β
  [τ(i, j)][η(i, j)]

, if j ∈ Jk (i)
β
pk (i, j) = m ∈ Jk (i) [τ(i, m)][η(i, m)]


0, otherwise
(9)
where τ is the pheromone which deposited on the edge be-
tween nodes i and j, η the inverse of the edge distance, Jk (i)
the set of nodes that remain to be visited by ant k positioned
on node i, and β is a parameter which determines the rela-
tive importance of pheromone versus distance. Equation (9)
indicates that the state transition rule favors transitions to-
ward nodes connected by shorter edges and with greater large
amount of pheromone.
3.2.2. Local updating rule
While constructing its tour, each ant modifies the
pheromone by the local updating rule. This can be written
below:
τ(i, j) = (1 − ρ)τ(i, j) + ρτ0 (10)
where τ 0 is the initial pheromone value and ρ is a heuristically
defined parameter.
The local updating rule is intended to shuffle the search
process. Hence, the desirability of paths can be dynamically
changed. The nodes visited earlier by a certain ant can be
also explored later by other ants. The search space can be
therefore extended. Furthermore, in so doing, ants will make
a better use of pheromone information.
 C.-T. Su et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 75 (2005) 190–199 193

Without local updating, all ants would search in a narrow

neighborhood of the best previous tour.

3.2.3. Global updating rule

When tours are completed, the global updating rule is ap-
plied to edges belonging to the best ant tour. This rule is in-
tended to provide a greater amount of pheromone to shorter
tours, which can be expressed below:
τ(i, j) = (1 − σ)τ(i, j) + σδ−1 (11)
where δ is the distance of the globally best tour from the
beginning of the trial and σ ∈ [0, 1] is the pheromone de-
cay parameter. This rule is intended to make the search more
directed; therefore, the capability of finding the optimal solu-
tion can be enhanced through this rule in the problem solving
process.

4. Computational procedures of the proposed

method

The solution process begins with encoding parameters. A

tie switch (TS) and some sectionalizing switches with the
feeders form a loop. A particular switch of each loop is se-
lected to open to make the loop radial such that the selected
switch naturally becomes a tie switch. The network recon-
figuration problem is identical to the problem of selecting an
appropriate tie switch for each loop to minimize the power
loss. A coding scheme that recognizes the positions of the tie
switches is proposed. The total number of tie switches is kept
constant, regardless of any change in the system’s topology or
the tie switches’ positions. Fig. 3 shows an individual that is
composed of tie switches’ positions. Different switches from
a loop are, respectively, selected for cutting the loop circuit
and trying to become a tie switch. After each loop is made ra-
dial, a configuration is proposed. The fitness value (defined as
the system loss) associated with this proposed configurations
is determined using (4)–(6). Finally, the best one among the
proposed configurations is selected, and which is a feasible
solution (radial configuration) with minimum loss. Fig. 4. Flowchart of the proposed method.
The fitness function to be minimized is as follows:
M
n −1  finds configurations with various states of switches so that


k
the value of the objective function is successively reduced.
min f = min PT,Loss = min PLoss (i, i + 1)
The main computational processes are briefly stated below.
k=1 i=0
(12) Step 1 (Initiation). At first, the colonies of ants are randomly
where M is the total number of feeders in the system and selected which estimated the initial fitness in the different
nk is the total number of sections of feeder k. Fig. 4 shows permutations. A random number generator can be employed
a flowchart of the main computational procedures. The pro- to generate the number of ants within the feasible search
posed method mainly involves power loss computation using space. In addition, these ants are positioned on different nodes
(4) and (5), bus voltage determination using (6), and ACSA while the initial pheromone value of τ 0 is also given at this
application, which will be described below. The computation step.
Step 2 (Estimation of the fitness). In this step, the fitness of
the ants, which is defined as the objective function, is esti-
mated. Then, the pheromone can be added to the particular di-
Fig. 3. Composition of an individual. rection in which the ants have chosen. At this stage, a roulette
194 C.-T. Su et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 75 (2005) 190–199

selection algorithm can be employed based on the computed

fitness [25]. Then, by spinning this designated roulette, a new
permutation of pheromone associated with different paths is
formed. In other words, based on a roulette selection method,
a path (fitness) with higher amount of pheromone will be easy
to find a new path. Hence, it would be more suitable for guid-
ing the ants to the direction.

Step 3 (Ant reconfiguration). The ant’s reconfigurations are

based on the level of pheromone and distance. As (9) shows,
each ant selects the next node to move taking into account the
τ(i, j) and η(i, j) values. A greater τ(i, j) means that there has
been a lot of traffic on this edge; hence, it is more desirable to
approach the optimal solution. On the other hand, a greater
η(i, j) indicates that the closer node should be chosen with a
higher probability. In the network reconfiguration study, this
can be seen as the difference between the original total power
loss and the new total power loss. Therefore, in this step, the
ant reconfiguration process helps convey ants by selecting
directions based on these two parameters.
Step 4 (Local/global updating rule). While constructing a
solution of the network reconfiguration problem, ants visit
edges and change their pheromone level by applying the lo-
cal updating rule of (10). Its purpose is not only broadening
the search space, but dynamically increasing the diversity
of ant colony. After n iterations, all ants have completed a
tour; the pheromone level is updated by applying the global
updating rule of (11) for the trail which belongs to the best
selected path. Therefore, according to this rule, the shortest
path found by the ants is allowed to update its pheromone,
also this shortest path will be saved as a record for the later
comparison with the succeeding iteration.
Step 5 (Termination of the algorithm). End the process if
“the maximum iteration number is reached” or “all ants have
selected the same tour” is satisfied; otherwise, repeat the outer
Fig. 5. A three-feeder distribution system for Example 1.
loop. In addition, the number of ants and the number of iter-
ations were experimentally determined. All the tours visited
by ants in each iteration should be evaluated. If a better path
found in the process, it will be saved for later reference.
5. Application examples
One three-feeder distribution system from the literature
and one practical distribution network of Taiwan Power Com-
pany are investigated using the proposed ACSA method and
the GA and SA methods, and the results are compared. These
methods have been programmed using MATLAB and run on
a Pentium IV—1.3 GHz personal computer.
Example 1. The first example is a three-feeder distribution
system [1] shown in Fig. 5. Input data of this example sys-
tem are shown in Table 1. The system consists of 3 feeders,
13 normally closed sectionalizing switches, and 3 normally
open tie switches. The system load is assumed to be constant
and Sbase = 100 MVA. Parameters for the ACSA application
were selected as the number of ants to be 5, β = 0.1, ρ = 0.6,
σ = 0.1, and the maximum generation to be 30. For compar-
ison, the SA and GA are also applied to solve this problem.

Table 1
Input data for Example 1
Section bus to bus Section Section End bus real End bus reactive End bus fixed
resistance (P.U.) reactance (P.U.) load (MW) load (MVAR) capacitor (MVAR)
1–4 0.075 0.1 2.0 1.6 –
4–5 0.08 0.11 3.0 1.5 1.1
4–6 0.09 0.18 2.0 0.8 1.2
6–7 0.04 0.04 1.5 1.2 –
2–8 0.11 0.11 4.0 2.7 –
8–9 0.08 0.11 5.0 3.0 1.2
8–10 0.11 0.11 1.0 0.9 –
9–11 0.11 0.11 0.6 0.1 0.6
9–12 0.08 0.11 4.5 2.0 3.7
3–13 0.11 0.11 1.0 0.9 –
13–14 0.09 0.12 1.0 0.7 1.8
13–15 0.08 0.11 1.0 0.9 –
15–16 0.04 0.04 2.1 1.0 1.8
5–11 0.04 0.04 – – –
10–14 0.04 0.04 – – –
7–16 0.12 0.12 – – –
 C.-T. Su et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 75 (2005) 190–199 195

Table 2
Numerical results of Example 1
Main items Original configuration After reconfiguration
SA GA ACSA
Tie switches 15, 21, 26 19, 17, 26 (best solution) 19, 17, 26 (best solution) 19, 17, 26 (best solution)
Power loss (kW)
Best 466.1 466.1 466.1
Worst 511.4 511.4 493.2 483.3
Average 482.3 474.8 470.2
Average loss reduction (%) – 5.69 7.16 8.06
Number of the switches changed – 2
CPU time (s) – 2.07 2.32 1.81

Table 3
The results based on different parameters setting of ACSA for Example 1
Parameters setting Average power loss (kW) Average loss reduction (%)
(1) β = 0.1, ρ = 0.6, σ = 0.1 470.2 8.06
(2) β = 0.5, ρ = 0.6, σ = 0.1 471.5 7.80
(3) β = 1.0, ρ = 0.6, σ = 0.1 475.0 7.12
(4) β = 0.1, ρ = 0.9, σ = 0.1 471.9 7.72
(5) β = 0.1, ρ = 0.6, σ = 0.5 472.2 7.67
(6) β = 0.1, ρ = 0.6, σ = 0.9 471.1 7.88
(7) β = 0.1, ρ = 0.1, σ = 0.1 472.5 7.61
(8) β = 0.1, ρ = 0.1, σ = 0.5 471.3 7.84

For SA application, the parameters were selected as the initial stant load are assumed. Parameters for the ACSA application
temperature to be 500, the temperature reduction ratio to be were selected as the number of ants to be 5, β = 0.15, ρ = 0.9,
0.95, and the maximum iteration to be 200; for GA applica- σ = 0.2, and the maximum generation to be 500. For compar-
tion, parameters were selected as population size to be 5, the ison, the SA and GA are also applied to solve this problem.
crossover ratio to be 0.5, the mutation ratio to be 0.03, and the For SA application, the parameters were selected as the ini-
maximum generation to be 50. To investigate performance of tial temperature to be 5000, the temperature reduction ratio
the proposed algorithm, this example was repeatedly solved to be 0.99, and the maximum iteration to be 4000; for GA
for 100 runs. The best and worst computation results among
the 100 runs are expressed in Table 2. The average value for
the best solutions of those 100 runs and the average CPU time
are also shown in this table. From the computational results
of Table 2, it is observed that these three methods have the
same best solution. However, for the ACSA, the average loss
reduction ratio and average CPU time are less than those of
the SA and GA. Moreover, the numbers of times to which
the best solution is obtained are 35, 78, and 85, for the SA,
GA, and ACSA, respectively, in 100 runs. From the above
discussion, it could be concluded that the performance of
the proposed ACSA method is better than both the SA and
GA methods. Furthermore, Table 3 shows the results based
on different parameters setting of ACSA. It is observed that
among them, the setting (1) is the best.
Example 2. The second example is a practical distribution
network of Taiwan Power Company. Its conductors mainly
employ both overhead lines ACSR 477KCM and under-
ground lines copper conductors 500KCM. The system is
shown in Fig. 6 and the relating data are shown in Table 4.
It is a three-phase, 11.4 kV system. The system consists of
11 feeders, 83 normally closed sectionalizing switches, and
13 normally open tie switches. Three-phase balance and con- Fig. 6. A distribution system of Taiwan Power Company for Example 2.
196 C.-T. Su et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 75 (2005) 190–199

Table 4
The three-phase load and line data of Example 2
Section bus to bus Section resistance () Section reactance () End bus real load (kW) End bus reactive load (kVAR)
A-1 0.1944 0.6624 0 0
1–2 0.2096 0.4304 100 50
2–3 0.2358 0.4842 300 200
3–4 0.0917 0.1883 350 250
4–5 0.2096 0.4304 220 100
5–6 0.0393 0.0807 1100 800
6–7 0.0405 0.1380 400 320
7–8 0.1048 0.2152 300 200
7–9 0.2358 0.4842 300 230
7–10 0.1048 0.2152 300 260
B-11 0.0786 0.1614 0 0
11–12 0.3406 0.6944 1200 800
12–13 0.0262 0.0538 800 600
12–14 0.0786 0.1614 700 500
C-15 0.1134 0.3864 0 0
15–16 0.0524 0.1076 300 150
16–17 0.0524 0.1076 500 350
17–18 0.1572 0.3228 700 400
18–19 0.0393 0.0807 1200 1000
19–20 0.1703 0.3497 300 300
20–21 0.2358 0.4842 400 350
21–22 0.1572 0.3228 50 20
21–23 0.1965 0.4035 50 20
23–24 0.1310 0.2690 50 10
D-25 0.0567 0.1932 50 30
25–26 0.1048 0.2152 100 60
26–27 0.2489 0.5111 100 70
27–28 0.0486 0.1656 1800 1300
28–29 0.1310 0.2690 200 120
E-30 0.1965 0.3960 0 0
30–31 0.1310 0.2690 1800 1600
31–32 0.1310 0.2690 200 150
32–33 0.0262 0.0538 200 100
33–34 0.1703 0.3497 800 600
34–35 0.0524 0.1076 100 60
35–36 0.4978 1.0222 100 60
36–37 0.0393 0.0807 20 10
37–38 0.0393 0.0807 20 10
38–39 0.0786 0.1614 20 10
39–40 0.2096 0.4304 20 10
38–41 0.1965 0.4035 200 160
41–42 0.2096 0.4304 50 30
F-43 0.0486 0.1656 0 0
43–44 0.0393 0.0807 30 20
44–45 0.1310 0.2690 800 700
45–46 0.2358 0.4842 200 150
G-47 0.2430 0.8280 0 0
47–48 0.0655 0.1345 0 0
48–49 0.0655 0.1345 0 0
49–50 0.0393 0.0807 200 160
50–51 0.0786 0.1614 800 600
51–52 0.0393 0.0807 500 300
52–53 0.0786 0.1614 500 350
53–54 0.0524 0.1076 500 300
54–55 0.1310 0.2690 200 80
H-56 0.2268 0.7728 0 0
56–57 0.5371 1.1029 30 20
57–58 0.0524 0.1076 600 420
58–59 0.0405 0.1380 0 0
 C.-T. Su et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 75 (2005) 190–199 197

Table 4 (Continued )
Section bus to bus Section resistance () Section reactance () End bus real load (kW) End bus reactive load (kVAR)
59–60 0.0393 0.0807 20 10
60–61 0.0262 0.0538 20 10
61–62 0.1048 0.2152 200 130
62–63 0.2358 0.4842 300 240
63–64 0.0243 0.0828 300 200
I-65 0.0486 0.1656 0 0
65–66 0.1703 0.3497 50 30
66–67 0.1215 0.4140 0 0
67–68 0.2187 0.7452 400 360
68–69 0.0486 0.1656 0 0
69–70 0.0729 0.2484 0 0
70–71 0.0567 0.1932 2000 1500
71–72 0.0262 0.0528 200 150
J-73 0.3240 1.1040 0 0
73–74 0.0324 0.1104 0 0
74–75 0.0567 0.1932 1200 950
75–76 0.0486 0.1656 300 180
K-77 0.2511 0.8556 0 0
77–78 0.1296 0.4416 400 360
78–79 0.0486 0.1656 2000 1300
79–80 0.1310 0.2640 200 140
80–81 0.1310 0.2640 500 360
81–82 0.0917 0.1883 100 30
82–83 0.3144 0.6456 400 360
5–55 0.1310 0.2690 – –
7–60 0.1310 0.2690 – –
11–43 0.1310 0.2690 – –
12–72 0.3406 0.6994 – –
13–76 0.4585 0.9415 – –
14–18 0.5371 1.0824 – –
16–26 0.0917 0.1883 – –
20–83 0.0786 0.1614 – –
28–32 0.0524 0.1076 – –
29–39 0.0786 0.1614 – –
34–46 0.0262 0.0538 – –
40–42 0.1965 0.4035 – –
53–64 0.0393 0.0807 – –

application, parameters were selected as population size to be
10, the crossover ratio to be 0.5, the mutation ratio to be 0.03,
and the maximum generation to be 500. Table 5 expressed the
best and worst computation results among the 100 runs and
the average results for the best solutions of those 100 runs.
From the numerical results, it is observed that the three meth-
ods have the same best solution. Similarly, Table 6 shows the
results based on different parameters setting of ACSA. It is
observed that among them the setting (1) is the best. In ad-
dition, the convergence rate of the proposed ACSA method

Table 5
Numerical results of Example 2
Main items Original configuration SA GA ACSA
Tie switches 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 55, 7, 86, 72, 13, 89, 90, 55, 7, 86, 72, 13, 89, 90, 55, 7, 86, 72, 13, 89, 90,
91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96 83, 92, 39, 34, 41, 62 (best 83, 92, 39, 34, 41, 62 (best 83, 92, 39, 34, 41, 62 (best
solution) solution) solution)
Power loss (kW)
Best 469.88 469.88 469.88
Worst 531.99 498.22 489.25 482.95
Average 489.82 479.73 471.41
Average loss reduction (%) – 7.93 9.82 11.39
Number of the switches changed – 9
CPU time (s) – 257.43 303.66 241.51
198 C.-T. Su et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 75 (2005) 190–199

Table 6 (ACSA) is better than the SA and GA. It can be observed

The results based on different parameters setting of ACSA for Example 2 that a 8.06% of average loss reduction can be achieved by the
Parameters setting Average power Average loss ACSA comparing with a 5.69% by the SA, and a 7.16% by
loss (kW) reduction (%) the GA, as shown in Table 2. For the large-scale system like
(1) β = 0.15, ρ = 0.9, σ = 0.2 471.41 11.39 Example 2, numerical results demonstrate that the advantage
(2) β = 0.25, ρ = 0.9, σ = 0.2 473.29 11.03 of ACSA is more remarkable. In Example 2, a 11.39% of
(3) β = 0.10, ρ = 0.9, σ = 0.2 474.16 10.87
(4) β = 0.20, ρ = 0.3, σ = 0.4 488.49 8.18
average loss reduction can be achieved by the ACSA com-
(5) β = 0.15, ρ = 0.8, σ = 0.4 472.70 11.14 paring with a 7.93% by the SA and a 9.82% by the GA, as
(6) β = 0.15, ρ = 0.9, σ = 0.4 473.99 10.90 shown in Table 5. From Table 3 of Example 1 and Table 6
(7) β = 0.15, ρ = 0.9, σ = 0.4 473.97 10.91 of Example 2, the results based on some different parameters
(8) β = 0.15, ρ = 0.9, σ = 0.5 476.32 10.46 setting for the ACSA method show that the proposed method
is effective in average loss reduction for various parameters
setting demonstrating a certain extent adaptive performance
for the proposed method. Fig. 7 further confirms that the
ACSA method can more efficiently search the optimal or
near-optimal solution for network reconfiguration problems.
Moreover, it can be observed from Tables 2 and 5, the pro-
posed method is the best in the average solution as well as
the average CPU time. The proposed method is helpful for
operating existing systems and planning future systems.

Acknowledgment

Financial research support from the National Science

Council of the R.O.C. under grant NSC90-2213-E-131-007
is greatly appreciated.

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