Compartmentalisation-based design automation method for power grid

Abstract

Power grid design and maintenance are conducted to solve the problems caused by load growth over time and to stay within the constraints of voltage drop, power factor, etc. Typically, solutions to these problems are optimised individually. Considering multiple problems simultaneously and applying different solutions require vast design space exploration. This exclusively needs advanced algorithms and complex global optimisation methods which are not easily-applicable in different scenarios. In the state-of-the-art methods, for solving multiple problems simultaneously, these individually optimised solutions are applied sequentially to the power grid. In this so-called uncoordinated method, the final solution may not be optimal solution considering all the variables, since it is considering the overlapping effect of the solutions on the power grid. To validate the compartmentalisation method, a detailed distribution grid has been modeled. After analysing the possible solutions and optimisation, power loss was reduced 45% and total cost decreased by 71%, compared to the uncoordinated method.

Keywords

• distribution networks
• maintenance engineering
• optimisation
• load (electric)
• power grid design
• power grid maintenance
• load growth
• physical characteristics
• electrical characteristics
• design space exploration
• advanced algorithms
• complex global optimisation methods
• uncoordinated method
• compartmentalisation-based design automation method
• optimum solution
• distribution grid model
• power loss