Abstract
This research aims to optimize the size and location of biomass-based distributed generator (BMDG) units to enhance the voltage profile, reduce electrical losses, maximize cost savings, and decrease emissions from power distribution systems. Biomass-based distributed generator (BMDG) systems offer numerous advantages to enhance the efficiency of power distribution systems. However, achieving these benefits relies on determining the optimal size and position of the BMDGs. To achieve these objectives, the metaheuristic technique called particle swarm optimization (PSO) is employed to find the optimal placement and size of BMDGs. The proposed model was validated on MATLAB's IEEE-33 bus radial distribution system (RDS), confirming the aforementioned benefits. Comparative analysis between the PSO-based technique and other algorithms from previous research revealed better results with the proposed method. The results indicate that optimal placement and sizing of BMDG units have led to a reduction of more than 67.68% in active power losses and 65.90% in reactive power losses compared to the base case. Additionally, the reduction in active power loss was 40.44%, 11.39%, 42.85%, 1.81%, 0.85%, 29.83%, 5.82% and 28.38% more than artificial bee colony, backtracking search optimization algorithm, moth-flame optimization, Coordinate control, artificial Hummingbird algorithm, variable constants PSO (VCPSO), artificial gorilla troops optimizer (AGTO), and a jellyfish search optimizer respectively. Furthermore, the reactive power losses were reduced by 38.33% and 15.68% compared to VCPSO and AGTO respectively. Furthermore, this study revealed a cost reduction of 6.38% when compared to the AGTO and 1.30% when compared to the AHA. Moreover, the voltage profile of the power distribution system was improved by 7.28%. The presented methodology has demonstrated promising results for BMDGs in RDS across various applications.