Conductor temperature based low cost solution for dynamic line rating calculation of power distribution lines

As most of the renewable resources are concentrated often in remote locations, their development is hindered by the bottlenecks in the distribution network. Reliving these bottlenecks require a mechanism to increase the power flow capability of existing lines. Even though the simplest method of increasing the capability of a line is reconductoring it, it is not economical. Therefore, a cost effective way of harnessing the unused capacity of the existing lines was investigated. The dynamic line rating of a distribution line was determined by measuring the conductor temperature using a low-cost sensing probe. Field tests were carried out on 400V and 11 kV overhead distribution lines. The estimation of the excess capacity of a line based on conductor temperature was established. Even though the excess capacity varies with the weather conditions, in average the dynamic rating is about 25% more than the static rating of the conductor.