Distribution Network Planning Tool for Rural Areas

Abstract

Long term distribution network planning consists in imagining the most likely future of the distribution network over several decades in order to anticipate the investments. In France and in many countries, there is no software, which automatically proposes alternatives for planners, based on a set of hypotheses. On the contrary, they usually find manually solutions and validate them using some software, which provides technical, economic and reliability studies. This paper proposes a several stage algorithm taken from graph theory, which automatizes the different steps of a rural planning study to give some flexibility to the planner who can interfere whenever he wants. The typical rural architecture built consists of main MV loops radially operated and secondary arborescent radials. Two real rural test cases enable to validate the automatic rural planning algorithm by assessing the total length of cables savings, the completion with voltage limits and the increase of renewable penetration.