Planning distribution systems considering thermal capacities of power cables

Today, load forecasts urge the planner of electrical power supply networks to take extension measures according to common planning practice. To postpone or even avoid those decisions which are often based on too restrictive assumptions or too simple models is the main target of this study. This can lead to enormous savings in investment cost. Looking at the ageing process of energy cables in medium voltage (MV) networks possible transmission reserves are pointed out which are of main practical importance. The potential of these reserves can be quantified by using the authors´ method to calculate the possible thermal cable capacity