DISTRIBUTION

WHAT IS DISTRIBUTION?
ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION IS THE DELIVERY FROM THE
SUBSTATION TO THE CONSUMERS.

ELECTRICITY IS USUALLY TRANSMITTED OVER

LONG DISTANCE
THROUGH OVERHEAD POWER TRANSMISSION LINES.
UNDERGROUND POWER TRANSMISSION IS USED
ONLY
IN
DENSELY POPULATED AREAS DUE TO ITS HIGH COST OF
INSTALLATION AND MAINTENANCE,
A POWER TRANSMISSION SYSTEM IS REFERRED TO AS A "GRID";

A TRANSMISSION GRID IS A NETWORK OF POWER STATIONS,

TRANSMISSION CIRCUITS, AND SUBSTATIONS. ENERGY IS USUALLY
TRANSMITTED WITHIN THE GRID WITH THREE-PHASEAC.
SUB STATION

A SUBSTATION IS A HIGH-VOLTAGE ELECTRIC SYSTEM FACILITY.

IT IS USED TO SWITCH GENERATORS, EQUIPMENT, AND
CIRCUITS
OR LINES IN AND OUT OF A SYSTEM.

IT ALSO IS USED TO CHANGE AC VOLTAGES FROM ONE LEVEL

TO ANOTHER, AND/OR CHANGE ALTERNATING CURRENT TO
DIRECT
CURRENT OR
DIRECT
CURRENT TO
ALTERNATING CURRENT.

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SUBSTATION TYPES

ALTHOUGH, THERE ARE GENERALLY FOUR TYPES OF

SUBSTATIONS THERE ARE SUBSTATIONS THAT ARE A
COMBINATION OF TWO OR MORE TYPES.
STEP-UP TRANSMISSION SUBSTATION
STEP-DOWN TRANSMISSION SUBSTATION
DISTRIBUTION SUBSTATION
UNDERGROUND DISTRIBUTION SUBSTATION
SUBSTATION FUNCTIONS
SUBSTATION EQUIPMENT

STEP-UP TRANSMISSION SUBSTATION

A STEP-UP TRANSMISSION SUBSTATION RECEIVES ELECTRIC

POWER FROM A NEARBY GENERATING FACILITY AND USES A
LARGE POWER TRANSFORMER TO INCREASE THE VOLTAGE FOR
TRANSMISSION TO DISTANT LOCATIONS.

A TRANSMISSION BUS IS USED TO DISTRIBUTE ELECTRIC POWER

TO ONE OR MORE TRANSMISSION LINES. THERE CAN ALSO BE A
TAP ON THE INCOMING POWER FEED FROM THE GENERATION
PLANT TO PROVIDE ELECTRIC POWER TO OPERATE EQUIPMENT IN
THE GENERATION PLANT.

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A SUBSTATION CAN HAVE CIRCUIT BREAKERS THAT ARE USED

TO SWITCH GENERATION AND TRANSMISSION CIRCUITS IN AND
OUT OF SERVICE AS NEEDED OR FOR
EMERGENCIES REQUIRING SHUT-DOWN OF POWER TO A CIRCUIT
OR REDIRECTION OF POWER.
THE SPECIFIC VOLTAGES LEAVING A STEP-UP TRANSMISSION
SUBSTATION ARE DETERMINED BY THE CUSTOMER NEEDS OF THE
UTILITY SUPPLYING POWER AND TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF ANY
CONNECTIONS TO REGIONAL GRIDS.
TYPICAL VOLTAGES ARE:
HIGH VOLTAGE (HV) AC:69 KV, 115 KV, 138 KV, 161 KV, 230 KV
EXTRA-HIGH VOLTAGE (EHV) AC:345 KV, 500 KV, 765 KV
ULTRA-HIGH VOLTAGE (UHV) AC:1100 KV, 1500 KV
DIRECT-CURRENT HIGH VOLTAGE (DC HV): 250 KV, 400 KV, 500
KV
DIRECT CURRENT VOLTAGE IS EITHER POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE
POLARITY. A DC LINE HAS TWO CONDUCTORS, SO ONE WOULD BE
POSITIVE AND THE OTHER NEGATIVE.

HVDC TRANSMISSION

HIGH VOLTAGE DIRECT CURRENT (HVDC) IS USED TO

TRANSMIT LARGE AMOUNTS OF POWER OVER LONG DISTANCES
OR FOR INTERCONNECTIONS BETWEEN ASYNCHRONOUS GRIDS.
WHEN ELECTRICAL ENERGY IS REQUIRED TO BE TRANSMITTED
OVER VERY LONG DISTANCES, IT CAN BE MORE
ECONOMICAL TO TRANSMIT USING DIRECT
CURRENT INSTEAD OF ALTERNATING CURRENT.
FOR A LONG TRANSMISSION LINE, THE VALUE OF
THE SMALLER LOSSES, AND REDUCED CONSTRUCTION COST OF
A DC LINE, CAN OFFSET THE ADDITIONAL COST OF
CONVERTER STATIONS AT EACH END OF THE LINE.
ALSO, AT HIGH AC VOLTAGES SIGNIFICANT (ALTHOUGH
ECONOMICALLY ACCEPTABLE) AMOUNTS OF ENERGY ARE LOST
DUE TO CORONA DISCHARGE, THE CAPACITANCE BETWEEN
PHASES OR, IN THE CASE OF BURIED CABLES, BETWEEN PHASES
AND THE SOIL OR WATER IN WHICH THE CABLE IS BURIED.

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A SUBSTATION

ADVANTAGES OF USING HIGH VOLTAGE FOR TRANSMISSION

TRANSMISSION EFFICIENCY IS IMPROVED BY INCREASING THE

VOLTAGE USING A STEP-UP TRANSFORMER, WHICH REDUCES
THE CURRENT IN THE CONDUCTORS,
WHILE KEEPING THE POWER TRANSMITTED NEARLY EQUAL TO
THE POWER INPUT.
THE REDUCED CURRENT FLOWING THROUGH THE CONDUCTOR
REDUCES THE LOSSES IN THE CONDUCTOR AND SINCE,
ACCORDING TO JOULE'S LAW, THE LOSSES ARE PROPORTIONAL
TO THE SQUARE OF THE CURRENT, HALVING THE CURRENT
MAKES THE TRANSMISSION LOSS ONE QUARTER THE ORIGINAL
VALUE.

DC SYSTEMS REQUIRE RELATIVELY COSTLY CONVERSION

EQUIPMENT WHICH MAY BE ECONOMICALLY JUSTIFIED FOR
PARTICULAR PROJECTS.

SINGLE PHASE AC IS USED ONLY FOR DISTRIBUTION TO END

USERS SINCE IT IS NOT USABLE FOR LARGE
POLYPHASE INDUCTION MOTORS

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TRANSMISSION TOWERS

FEEDERS, DISTRIBUTORS AND SERVICE MAINS

A DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM CAN BE SUBDIVIDED INTO:
FEEDERS- CONDUCTORS OF LARGE CURRENT CARRYING CAPACITY
- CARRY CURRENT TO THE FEEDING POINTS IN BULK
DISTRIBUTORSCONDUCTORS FROM WHICH CURRENT IS TAPPED OFF FOR SUPPLYING
THE CONSUMER
SERVICE MAINS- SMALL CABLES BETWEEN THE DISTRIBUTORS AND THE
CONSUMERS PREMISES

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TYPICAL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM

SERVICE MAINS
GENERATING STATION
OR SUBSTATION

TYPICAL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM

THE POWER NETWORK, WHICH GENERALLY CONCERNS THE

COMMON MAN, IS THE DISTRIBUTION NETWORK OF 11KV
LINES OR FEEDERS DOWNSTREAM OF THE 33KV SUBSTATION.

EACH 11KV FEEDER WHICH EMANATES FROM THE 33KV

SUBSTATION BRANCHES FURTHER INTO SEVERAL SUBSIDIARY
11KV FEEDERS TO CARRY POWER CLOSE TO THE LOAD POINTS
(LOCALITIES, INDUSTRIAL AREAS, VILLAGES, ETC.,).

AT THESE LOAD POINTS, A TRANSFORMER FURTHER REDUCES THE

VOLTAGE FROM 11KV TO 415V TO PROVIDE THE LAST-MILE
CONNECTION THROUGH 415V FEEDERS (ALSO CALLED AS LOW
TENSION (LT) FEEDERS) TO INDIVIDUAL CUSTOMERS, EITHER AT
240V (AS SINGLE-PHASE SUPPLY) OR AT 415V (AS THREE-PHASE
SUPPLY).

A FEEDER COULD BE EITHER AN OVERHEAD LINE OR AN

UNDERGROUND CABLE. IN URBAN AREAS, OWING TO THE DENSITY

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OF CUSTOMERS, THE LENGTH OF AN 11KV FEEDER IS GENERALLY UP TO

3 KM.
ON THE OTHER HAND, IN RURAL AREAS, THE FEEDER LENGTH IS MUCH
LARGER (UP TO 20 KM). A 415V FEEDER SHOULD NORMALLY BE
RESTRICTED TO ABOUT 0.5-1.0 KM. UNDULY LONG FEEDERS LEAD TO LOW
VOLTAGE AT THE CONSUMER END.