Reliability Study of Electrical Distribution Network in Kampala East

Abstract

This research focuses on the reliability study of the electrical distribution network in Kampala East, which is connected to Lugogo, Nakawa, Kireka and Ntinda substations. The network is unable to supply its customers with reliable power at all times. Methods used in this research involve data identification, collection, cleaning, analyzing and interpretation. Also conducted are determination of reliability indices, identification of causes of supply interruptions and improvement of reliability. Depending on the reliability study outcome, the electrical distribution network in Kampala East has customer hours lost (System Average Interruption Duration Index) of 8.34 per month per customer, number of outages per month per customer (System Average Interruption Frequency Index) is 5.65 hours, Energy not served to customers of 2.14 GWh per month and Faults resolution time (Customer Average Interruption Duration Index) of 1.58 hours. The major cause of interruptions are system faults and emergency shutdowns. In this study, Reconfiguring network through use of appropriate combinations of opening of sectionalizing (normally Closed) switches and closing of tie-line (normally- Open) switches on feeders, the reliability is improved to 4.18 customers hours lost per month per customer and the number of outages per month per customer is 5.35, the energy not served of 0.18 GWh and faults resolution time of 0.84 Hours. This gives percentage improvements of 49.88%, 5.31%, 54.2%, and 88.61% in SAIDI, SAIFI, ENS and CAIDI respectively. The current level of reliability of electrical distribution network in Kampala East exceeds the target set by the regulator for 2022.