The rapid growth of urban areas bring, as a consequence, an increase in the amount of loads connected to the distribution grids. Furthermore, the increase in the demand implies in equal raise in reactive loads, which are known to cause losses in the network. Thus, the utilities have a great challenge ahead, as the dynamics of the load require a greater effort in terms of expansion and improvements of the grid. In an attempt to mitigate the problems caused, the allocation of capacitor banks can become a practical, economical and technically robust solution. Nevertheless, it is extremely important to analyze the sizing and positioning of the banks, in order to achieve the best possible outcome. In parallel, the increasing use of nonlinear loads cause harmonics to appear in the system. When in conjunction with capacitor banks, it is possible to develop the far more dangerous phenomenon of resonance, where the amplitude of some of the harmonics goes beyond acceptable limits, resulting in undesirable effects. In this context, this work proposes a comparison between two multiobjective optimization tehcniques, NSGA-II and SPEA2, to solve the problem of sizing and placement of capacitor banks in electric energy distribution grids, considering the effects of harmonics produced by nonlinear loads.
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