Technical and Economic Analysis of Voltage Conversion in Electrical Distribution Networks

Yücel Ö., Karaarslan K., Yeğin E. M.

IV. INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ENGINEERING NATURAL SCIENCES AND ARCHITECTURE, Kocaeli, Turkey, 20 - 21 May 2021, pp.3, (Summary Text)

  • Publication Type: Conference Paper / Summary Text
  • City: Kocaeli
  • Country: Turkey
  • Page Numbers: pp.3
  • Kocaeli University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Due to technological developments and industrial requirements, the demand for electrical energy is constantly increasing. This demand can only be met through planning, analysis and renewals to be carried out at all levels of existing electrical energy systems.  The main purpose of all these processes is to deliver the energy to the consumption points with the least cost and higher quality. Accordingly, the voltage conversion method, which will be used in the optimum design of existing electrical distribution networks, can contribute to energy efficiency.

A voltage conversion is an application of changing the voltage to a higher voltage level where the energy distribution is made with a lower voltage level. Thus, improvements can be achieved in terms of load carrying capacity, feeding from other points in case of failure, energy losses, supply of energy to more distant regions under certain voltage drop constraints and voltage profile. This situation makes the voltage conversion seem very attractive for electricity distribution companies. However, only technical issues should not be taken into account when making the voltage conversion decision. Because the initial investment cost of this operation reaches high values. Therefore, a detailed analysis should be made, taking into account the economic issues.

Mainly, voltage conversion is considered to create additional capacity for districts with high load growth rate. For this reason, if voltage conversion is considered for a district, it is important to perform load forecast analysis of that district. If the loading rate of the relevant district is low under current conditions and no significant load increase is expected in the future, voltage conversion may not be the right decision. For these reasons, the issue of voltage conversion is considered especially for regions with high load density.

In this study, it has been examined whether the voltage conversion to be performed in an electrical distribution network with different voltage levels is appropriate, considering the technical and economic issues. For this purpose, an existing energy distribution district with an operating voltage level of 15.8 kV was used for the pilot application.