OVERVIEW

MV AND LV DISTRIBUTION
PLANNING AND DESIGN
 INTRODUCTION TO
DISTRIBUTION PLANNING AND
DESIGN

It is estimated that about 70% of the population in
sub-Saharan Africa have no access to electricity

New Connections and Rural Electrification Projects
are being done in the sub-continent by many utilities
in different ways

In Namibia Rural Electrification Master Plan is the
Policy Document by the Ministry of Mines and
Energy

The financial burden of electrification process is
huge and hence there is always a need to ensure
Return of Investment
 A VIEW FROM THE HEAVENS!
• Extend of World Electrification- Night View
 Engineering Planning and Design

The process of engineering planning and design is
based on models of the system and its responses.

These models are usually mathematical in nature and
are derived from data ,experience and scientific
theory.

In essence the physical criteria that need to be met in
the distribution design process are supplying
electrical power to the customers at a prescribed
standard of quality and at least cost.

These requirements are generally conflicting in
nature and usually a balance has to be struck i.e an
optimum solution must be sought.
 Distribution Design Criteria

The quality of supply is determined by the range of
the supply voltage at the customer's terminals under
all conditions of load.

The design criteria is subject to physical limitations
within the network components such as:
 The thermal capacity of conductors and
transformers
 The Ohmic Voltage Drop in conductors( most
important in LV Distribution)
 The level of the Supply Voltage available at the
input side of the network
 The fault withstand capacity of the conductors
 Distribution Design Approaches

The objective of a distribution design process is the
lowest project Lifetime Cost (Initial Investment +
Running Cost).

The cost of the ohmic losses in the feeders
contribute to the overall cost of the system.

Difficulty in achieving the objective in the design
process arises from uncertainties
How big is the load?
How far along the feeder is the load?
How does the load change or vary?
How will the load vary over the expected lifetime
of the installed equipment?
 Engineering Design Process
Engineering Design is a process with well defined stages or steps
STEP 1: IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM
e.g Design an overhead line to meet certain transfer
requirements
STEP 2: RESEARCH ON THE PROBLEM
e.g Literature Review, Load Forecasting and Design
Specification
STEP 3: DEVELOP SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEM
e.g explore alternative designs or solutions
STEP 4: SELECT THE BEST/OPTIMUM SOLUTION
e.g What is the project objectivity?
STEP 5: SIMULATE/CONSTRUCT A PROTOTYPE
STEP 6: EVALUATE THE SOLUTION (PROTOTYPE)
STEP 7: REVIEW/SHARE THE SOLUTION
e.g Document the findings
STEP 8: RE-DESIGN?
e.g Have the initial objectives been met?
 Distribution Planning

Distribution Planning focuses on:
 Loading of Equipment e,g Transformers and
Lines
 Transfer Limits on lines not applicable

 Voltage Levels (mainly Low voltage problems

as capacitive effects on lines and cables are

not that high)
 Only AC systems

 Planning Horizon :Variable but usually short-

medium term, usually 5-10 years.

 3 Distribution Design Methods

There are 3 approaches that may be taken for
distribution system design,- each with some
advantages and disadvantages:
Apply Ohm's Law using an “average” load
with empirical factors added to make
allowance for uncertainties.
(Deterministic Method)
Use a Simulation Technique to derive a large
set of possible results from which a decision
may be taken.( Simulation Method)
Apply a statistical approach using either
probability or fuzzy set theory
(Statistical Method)
 DISTRIBUTION DESIGN
METHODS
INPUTS APPROACH TECHNIQUES MODEL
Certain Deterministic Algebraic Exact
Statistical Probability Distribution Factors
Probabilistic Simulation Monte Carlo
Triangular
UncertainPossibilistic Fuzzy NumbersTrapezoidal
 Deterministic Method
• Traditional procedures for designing low voltage networks
• In some cases and for a variety of reasons these methods
have proved to be inadequate
• When all inputs can be specified with certainty the
deterministic approach can be used.
• Input data in some cases may be precise. The DC
resistance of a feeder conductor of given length and
operating at a given temp can be specified with good
accuracy.
• However the same may not be said for the expected
combined load current of a group of customers from a
predicted community.
• Although Ohm's Law is applied ,the precision of the
calculated voltage drop may be suspect due to the
 Probabilistic Methods
• These includes the use of Statistical methods
and/or Simulation methods.
• When one or more of the inputs are subject to
uncertainty the outputs are no longer exact.
• The probabilistic approach is applicable when
sufficient sampled data regarding the parameter
with uncertainty is available.
• In such a case an analytical technique based on
statistical theory using probability distributions can
be used or simulation techniques such as Monte
Carlo Method.
 Possibilistic Methods
• Due to uncertainty in one or more of the input
parameters to design calculation problem, the
outputs can no longer be exact.
• If very little information is available for the
description of the uncertainty parameter, the
possibilistic method may be taken.
• This involves the use of fuzzy number theory using
either a triangular or trapezoidal model.