Typical medium voltage distribution system topologies in China: A review and a comparison of reliability

Medium voltage (MV) distribution system planning is an important duty of modern distribution system companies (DisCos) in order to providing reliable and high-quality electric supply. One essential procedure of the planning progress is to determining the topology of a MV distribution system because the topology has significant impact on reliability and cost of distribution systems. Despite many literatures have been published aiming at solving the MV distribution system planning problem, their complexity have limited their practicing in real world. As a result, DisCos may come across difficulties in making an optimal decision. This paper thus presents a review of typical MV system topologies in China, and a comparison of their reliability via case studies based on a real urban area. The contribution of this paper is that the characteristics of a series of MV system topologies are revealed in a straightforward manner, so that the ideas in this paper can be understood and applied by industry better.