There is an increasing interest in the analysis of power distribution systems, including demands to improve the distribution networks reliability. Regulatory agencies define reliability indices to quantify and evaluate the electric quality. In order to improve system reliability and provide a good quality service, this work proposes to install a minimum amount of switch devices at appropriate locations in the distribution network.A methodology is presented to effectively evaluate, even for large real networks the impact on reliability following contigencies.Firstly, are propose a constructive heuristic that allocates sectionalizers and tie switches, automatic and non-automatic, in a radial distribution system. This procedure aims to minimize the unsupplied energy caused in the network by determining a proper number, location and type of switches. A genetic algorithm is designed to further improve the switches location suggested by the constructive heuristic.The good performance of the proposed approach is confirmed by some case studies with large real energy distribution network.

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Palavras-chave: sistemas de distribuição de energia elétrica, perdas técnicas, otimização combinatória, programação dinâmica, algoritmos genéticos, regulação de tensão.