Assessment of power reliability and improvement potential by using smart reclosers

Abstract

This paper presents the use of smart reclosers for improving reliability of a distribution system of one of the major cities of Ethiopia. As frequent power interruptions are posing a huge problem to the life of the people and the economy, finding a solution to the problem is very essential. Electric reliability has affected social well being, public health, water supply, communication service, and economic growth in the country. This study presents the assessment result of the power distribution reliability for the city and the possibility of using smart reclosers for improving the urgent and pressing power interruption problem. The smart reclosers are key elements for fault detection, isolation and restoration.The WindMilsoftware has been used to verify the  improvement of the reliability indices for the distribution system. The simulation result of the designed model with three reclosers in each feeder and tie-recloser between connected nearby feeders shows that the application of smart reclosers improves the reliability of the distribution network by 75% in comparison with the reliability of currently existing system.

Keywords: Power Reliability, Power distribution system, Smart grid, WindMil.