Service restoration of active distribution systems with increasing penetration of renewable distributed generation

The increasing penetration of renewable generation poses several challenges to the operation of distribution networks under emergency conditions. This study proposes a service restoration method that exploits active management of the distribution network. The proposed active network management (ANM) method considers the coordinated control of the available switches, distributed generation, and the operation of on‐load tap changer (OLTC) to determine the optimal service restoration plan. The objectives of the proposed model are the minimisation of (i) the out of service area considering customer priorities, (ii) the number of switch operations, (iii) the number of tap changes of the OLTC, and (iv) the injected power from the substations considering the variation of load demand and renewable generation. The service restoration problem is formulated as a mixed‐integer second‐order cone programming problem, which is efficiently solved by commercial branch and bound solvers. Results on a 135‐bus distribution system and a 540‐bus distribution system highlight the importance and the benefits of incorporating ANM into the solution of the service restoration problem.