Allocation of HV/MV Substations in Iraqi Power Grid Using Delaunay Triangulation

Abstract

In provincial areas, allocation of the HV/MV substations aims to assign a proper set of numbers and locations of substations to supply loads spatially distributed over a large geographic area with continually emerging towns. This requires identifying the sparse load centers, the existing substations, and the new substations required to cover the potential extension. This paper proposes a method to allocate the main substations to the targeted area based on the lines’ length which are assigned by Delaunay triangulation and geographical coordinates. The proposed configuration is identified by a criterion that is tailored to the Iraqi sub-transmission system in which the standard distances among the substation follow specific patterns. The standard distances that are identified by the proposed methods are represented by the edges of Delaunay triangles. This paper aims to improve the voltage regulation of the distribution grid and avoid problems of overloaded feeders by assigning the proposed locations that reduce the lines’ lengths. The proposed method is verified using simulation tests on Diyala 9-bus system which is a part of the Iraqi 132 kV power system. The results show that the proposed configuration of the substations is reasonably valid and quite close to the real locations of the towns of the system with efficient lengths for the lines.