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Technological Evolution of MV
Equipment and Structure Network
Giuseppe Cafaro, DEE, Politecnico di Bari, and Claudio Marchelli, VEI POWER DISTRIBUTION
evaluate long and short interruption. Currently average
Abstract Power quality (PQ) is an important constraint on
the planning and operation of the electrical power system. This
constraint has increased in importance following deregulation
and privatisation of electrical market. Quality provided to final
customers results from a range of factors. Nevertheless,
customers have a particular sensitivity to the continuity of
supply. A great effort has been devoted by engineers and
researchers to determine the optimal revision and upgrade of
the existing Medium Voltage (MV) electrical power system to
improve PQ. Modification of the structure network,
substitution of equipment and components with a more reliable
ones, adoption of automation and control techniques are
interdependent choices to reach the goal. But the PQ
improvement is affected by the more strict economic
constraints following privatisation and deregulation of the
electrical market. The greater diffusion of circuit breakers in
the network allows to improve PQ with reference to supply
continuity and restoration time. In the paper the authors
illustrate a new technological evolution of MV switchgear
cubicles which allows to upgrade the distribution networks
with reduction of environmental impact and economic effort.
I. INTRODUCTION
FIG. 1
It is typical of a rural area with a low load density. The
customers normally do not need supply continuity.
Sometimes these networks are in developing areas and have
to supply new customers as well as industries with a
different sensitivity to power quality.
The mesh structure is more reliable than the radial one
(Fig.2).
FIG. 2
The reliability increases with the number of switches and
circuit breakers installed along the mesh. Often the extreme
FIG. 4
FIG. 3
The feeder supplies several MV/LV transformer
substations and is normally operated radially by
sectionalising at an intermediate MV/LV station. The
unavailability of a HV/MV substation affects only half of
the customers supplied by the feeder. With an efficient
telecontrol system, the restoring time is very low: the feeder
is reconfigured relocating the sectionalising point. The
feeder can be supplied, in an emergency, by only one
substation.
Fault localisation, isolation and system restoration is
possible only if there is a sufficient number of switches and
circuit breakers in the network as well as an efficient control
system. This concept is independent from the network
topology.
Therefore supply continuity improvement comes from the
increase in number of HV/MV and MV/LV substations and
from the upgrade of existing ones. This choice has been
performed in many countries [11]-[14].
The expected benefits of this choice on the MV
distribution networks are:
9 The length of the MV lines is reduced to 50-60% of
original lines and they double in number. As a
consequence the voltage drop and the losses are
reduced.
9 Reduction of outage rate and time and PQ events.
9 Reduction of MV line congestion near HV/MV
substations.
The implementation of load disconnector the remote
control will bring a substantial reduction of the voltage dip
rate as well as the rate and duration of supply interruption to
consumers.
Nonetheless the erection of a new substation must have a
reduced environmental impact. One of the most important
distribution companies in Europe developed some years ago
a new standardised design of HV/MV substation. In this
project much attention was devoted to MV switchgear using
FIG. 5
With reference to Fig.5 the main constructive
characteristics are analysed. The MV switchboard is
composed of:
9 Vacuum circuit breaker up to 24 kV of rated voltage,
up to 1250 ampere of rated thermal current; up to 20
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V. BIOGRAPHIES
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