Compensator rating for radial distribution lines

Abstract

34% of the South African population is still without electricity. Most of these people stay in deep rural areas where the cost of electrification is very high. Radial lines are characteristic of rural networks and methods to stretch existing lines or constructing cost-effective new networks are of high priority. Cheap conductors with large voltage drops and voltage regulating network devices are on the forefront of research in rural electrification. Network devices are classified as one of four generic devices, namely shunt, series, series-shunt and in-line devices. The paper proposes a method in which all solutions to a specific voltage regulation problem can be evaluated to determine the best solution. The Cathedral Peak case study is presented as a working example.