The automatic clustering of uniformly distributed loads for the use in rural electrification planning

Design of new electricity supply systems for communities is an everyday task for engineers in developing countries. South African government policy prioritizes the electrification of the approximately 50% of nonelectrified rural communities. Thus an "Electrification Planning Decision Support Tool" was developed by Banks et al. This GIS based tool aids in technology selection (solar, grid, etc) and produces the electrification plans and costs involved. The tool caters for the supply of electricity to any consumer within given load polygons. This paper describes the automated creation of load polygons in randomly distributed rural communities, which is an important stage of the planning process. Intergraph\´s GeoMedia^TM software is used as the GIS platform and a benefit points system is used to display the consumer distribution density by means of a thematic map. A user interface tool uses inputs like maximum allowable expenditure and cost per connection for the creation of load polygons