JPS_V1_N3_RP1 Karanam Amaresh V. Sankar Journal on Power Systems Engineering 2322–0376 1 3 1 7 Reliability Assessment, Distribution System, Distributed Generation, Restoration Time, Distributed Load Flow, Sensitivity Analysis Reliability assessment of a radial distribution system with a distributed generation is presented in this paper. Assessment of customer power supply reliability is an important part of distribution system operation and planning. DG distribution is likely to improve the reliability of a power distribution system by at least partially minimizing the chance of power interruptions to customers due to loss of utility generators or due to faults in transmission and distribution lines or equipment. DG is expected to improve the system reliability as its back up generation. Since, DG units are subject to failures like all other generation units, the random behavior of these units must be taken into account in the analysis. Existence of DG units in a distribution system will affect restoration time of load points. In this paper, an algorithm for assessing restoration time of load points for a radial distribution system with back up DG units is presented. A simple distributed load flow technique has been used for solving radial distribution network by placing DG and compared with base case. The location of DGs is attained based on the corresponding lowest voltage values at the particular load point. A sensitivity analysis is performed on a test system to examine the impact of DG units, their location and their number on reliability indices. The proposed approach is tested on an IEEE – 15 bus radial distribution system, the results are presented and analyzed. August - October 2013 Copyright © 2013 i-manager publications. All rights reserved. i-manager Publications http://www.imanagerpublications.com/Article.aspx?ArticleId=2461