Geographical information system based optimal path routing of distribution networks

An electric distribution network is a part of a power system that distributes electricity to users with little power loss along its path. Distribution systems suffer from frequent interruptions, high power losses, and low voltage profile which negatively impacts both the utility and the consumers. The major cause of these challenges are unplanned network expansion, improper routing of feeders and branches, untagged transformers, poles, and capacitors, and lack of standard procedures for expansion. In this paper, ArcGIS software was used together with an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to find the optimal path for distribution feeders, as well as, to find the new transformers, poles, and capacitors placement. ETAP Software was used to model the electric distribution network and also used to compute the power loss in the network and its voltage profile. As a result, after optimal rerouting, the length of the distribution feeder was reduced by 4km. Consequently, the simulation results show that the minimum node voltage is 0.95152 p.u, which is within the IEEE limit of 0.95–1.05. The active and reactive power losses are reduced from 339.49 kW to 222.43kW (by 35%) and from 238.79kVAr to 157.38 kVAr (by 34%), respectively.