Optimal capacitor placement in a radial distribution system using Bat Algorithm

Optimal capacitor placement in the distribution system plays a significant role in minimizing the energy loss. This paper presents an efficient technique to find optimal size and location of the capacitor with the objective of minimizing the total active power losses of distribution system. The Bat Algorithm (BA) is proposed to solve the optimal capacitor placement problem satisfying the operating constraints. To demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method, it is tested on IEEE 33-bus radial distribution system. The simulation results obtained are compared with the previous method reported in the literature and found to be encouraging