Steady state voltage control in distribution system using a customer-weighted method

In Queensland, Australia, the statutory regulation for an electricity distribution network is to deliver a voltage within ± 6% to customers from the nominal value of 240 V. Typically, voltage control is determined using the system load as the main driver. This approach gives preference to customers that use more energy. This paper presents a customer-weighted method to control the voltage regulation in an electricity distribution system. Customer weighting has been applied successfully in other areas - such as measuring reliability and transient power quality performance. This customer-weighted approach could also be used to measure steady-state voltage performance of a distribution network. The main focus of this paper is the creation and demonstration of a customer-weighted steady-state voltage performance index - System Average Voltage Excursion Index (SAVEI). This index can be applied to a number of different system levels, and it has been shown to be informative and robust in getting insight into the steady-state voltage regulation performance of an electricity network. This measure would be a useful aid to any decision making related to the voltage regulation system.