Reliability assessment studies in distribution network operation and planning

The authors describe a computational algorithm and the associated computer program which have been developed for the evaluation of load-point reliability indices in distribution systems. The method extends the existing reliability techniques and can be applied in any type of distribution systems considering permanent and temporary faults and various types of protection and sectionalising practices. However, its application to the medium voltage overhead distribution networks becomes more important because of the many different protection techniques being used and of the fact that the vast majority of faults which occur are temporary in nature. Two additional indices are also introduced and evaluated which provide more information to the system operating and planning engineers. Finally, a typical 20 kV rural distribution system has been analysed and the results obtained are presented