*4.1. Test Systems*

Two test systems are considered to apply the proposed operation strategy. The 1st test system is the 12.66 kV IEEE 33-bus distribution system. It contains 33-node and 32 branches whilst its total active and reactive demand is 3715 kW + 2300 kVAr [65]. Figure 4 displays the first MG configuration where this system includes 1.1 MW-WT connected at bus 3, and five PV generators with ratings of 20, 25, 30, 40, and 50 kW are connected at buses 13, 17, 20, 27, and 33, respectively. In addition to that, four BGs with ratings of 400, 500, 700, and 1000 kVA are installed at buses 15, 25, 9, and 31, respectively [36].

**Figure 4.** First MG configuration.

The 12.47 kV AES-Venezuela in the metropolitan area of Caracas that is modeled by 141-node is considered the large-scale test system. The total peak load is 12.19 MW + 6.2894 MVAR [66,67]. Figure 5 displays the second MG configuration where the 141-bus system is modified to include one WT with a capacity of 3 MW connected at bus 50, and five PV generators with ratings of 40, 50, 60, 80, and 100 kW are connected at buses 60, 70, 80, 90, and 100, respectively. Added to that, four BGs with ratings of 650, 2500, 3500, and 2000 kVA are installed at buses 109, 16, 78, and 63, respectively [36]. For both studied systems, the load profile is taken into consideration where Figure 6 describes this hourly loading as a percentage of the peak load [68].

**Figure 5.** Second MG configuration.

Also, the maximum iterations number equals 400 for the tested systems. The particles number is considered to be 50 for IEEE 33-bus and 100 for the large scale 141-bus system. The numbers of iterations and particles are considered the same for all competitive algorithms for a fair assessment of their performance. Additionally, the allowable number of the RERs units, BGs, wind, and PV are assumed as 4, 1, and 5, respectively. The maximum penetration level is limited by 60% of the load demand [69].Table 1 shows the data of operational costs and the emission for the shared energy sources in the microgrid.

**Table 1.** Operational costs as well as emissions of the renewable sources and the grid.

