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.