Power Systems Planning and

Operation

CHAPTER TWO

Planning and design

By:
G/krstos A. (Msc.)
AKU
 What is Planning and design in power
system
 Planning and design in power systems refer to the process of
developing a comprehensive blueprint for the efficient and
reliable operation of an electrical power system. It involves
determining the optimal configuration, capacity, and layout
of power generation, transmission, and distribution
infrastructure to meet the present and future electricity
demand.
 Overall, the planning and design of power systems aim to
optimize the performance, efficiency, reliability, and
sustainability of the electricity supply infrastructure,
considering technical, economic, environmental, and social
factors.
 what are they designed and planned in power system?
Here are some key elements that are designed and planned:
 Power Generation Facilities: Power generation facilities, such as thermal
power plants, hydroelectric plants, wind farms, solar farms, and other
renewable energy installations, are designed and planned to meet the
electricity demand. Factors such as capacity, location, technology, fuel
source, and environmental impact are considered during the design and
planning phase.
 Transmission System: The transmission system is responsible for
transporting electricity at high voltages from power plants to
distribution networks. It includes transmission lines, substations,
transformers, and other equipment. The design and planning of the
transmission system involve determining the optimal configuration,
capacity, and voltage levels to ensure efficient and reliable transmission
of electricity.
•Distribution System: The distribution system delivers electricity from
the transmission system to end-users, such as residential, commercial,
and industrial consumers. It includes distribution substations,
transformers, distribution lines, and other components. The design and
planning of the distribution system involve determining the optimal
network layout, capacity, and protection schemes to ensure reliable
power supply to consumers.
•Grid Interconnection: Power systems often involve the interconnection
of multiple regions or countries through grid interconnections. The
design and planning of grid interconnections involve determining the
technical specifications, capacity, and control mechanisms to enable the
transfer of electricity between different power systems.
•Protection and Control Systems: Power system planning and design
include the development of protection and control systems to ensure the
reliable and safe operation of the grid. This includes designing protective
relays, circuit breakers, and control systems to detect and respond to
faults, voltage instability, and other abnormal conditions.
 Substation
 The aim of a power system substation is to ensure the efficient,
reliable, and safe transmission and distribution of electricity,
while providing control, protection, and monitoring capabilities
for the power system infrastructure.
 Here are the main aims of a power system substation:
1. Voltage Transformation
2. System Control and Protection:
3. Switching or control the flow of electricity
4. Connection Point for Distributed Generation
5. Reactive Power Compensation
6. Metering and Monitoring
7. Grid Connectivity and Interconnection:
8. Expansion and Upgrading
 Sustation Equipments
 Power substations are equipped with various electrical and mechanical
equipment that enable the efficient and reliable operation of the power
system. Here are some of the key equipment commonly found in
substations:
1. Transformers: Transformers are essential equipment in substations.
They are responsible for stepping up or stepping down the voltage
levels of electricity.
2. Circuit Breakers: Circuit breakers are devices used to interrupt or
break the flow of electric current in the event of a fault or abnormal
condition in the power system. They provide protection by isolating
faulty sections of the network and preventing damage to equipment.
Circuit breakers can be of different types, including air, vacuum, oil,
or gas-insulated.
3. Switchgear: Switchgear refers to the combination of electrical
disconnect switches, circuit breakers, and other control devices that are
used to control, protect, and isolate electrical equipment in the
substation. It ensures the safe and reliable operation of the power system.
4. Protection Relays: Protection relays are devices that monitor electrical
parameters and initiate appropriate actions in response to abnormal
conditions or faults in the power system. They detect faults, such as short
circuits or overloads, and send signals to circuit breakers to isolate the
faulted section. Protection relays are crucial for the safety and reliability
of the power system.
5. Bus bars: Bus bars are conductive metal bars or systems used to
distribute electrical power within the substation. They provide a common
connection point for various electrical components, such as transformers,
circuit breakers, and other equipment. Bus bars ensure efficient power
transfer and distribution within the substation.
7. Capacitors and Reactors: Capacitors and reactors are used for
reactive power compensation in the power system. Capacitors provide
reactive power support and voltage stabilization, while reactors are
used for voltage control and to limit short-circuit currents. These
devices help improve system efficiency and stability.
8. Instrument Transformers: Instrument transformers, such as current
transformers (CTs) and voltage transformers (VTs), are used to
measure current and voltage levels in the power system. They provide
scaled-down and isolated measurements for protection relays, meters,
and other monitoring equipment.
9. Control and Monitoring Systems: Substations are equipped with
control and monitoring systems that enable operators to monitor and
control the power system. These systems include SCADA (Supervisory
Control and Data Acquisition), communication networks.
10. Lightning Arresters: Lightning arresters are devices installed in
substations to protect equipment from lightning-induced surges.
Development of substation automation
 SCADA -acronym for supervisory control and data acquisition. A

system which measures critical power system parameters (e.g.,

voltage, power flow, circuit breaker status, and generator outputs) at
remote points in an electric power system and transmits the data to a
central control site where these conditions may be monitored
 switchgear
 The apparatus used for switching, controlling and protecting the electrical circuits
and equipment is known as switchgear
 The switchgear equipment is essentially concerned with switching and interrupting currents
either under normal or abnormal operating conditions
 Essential Features of Switchgear

The essential features of switchgear are :

 (i) Complete reliability.
 (ii) Absolutely certain discrimination.When fault occurs on any section of the power
system, the switchgear must be able to discriminate between the faulty section and the
healthy section.
 It should isolate the faulty section from the system without affecting the healthy section. This
will ensure continuity of supply.
 (iii) Quick operation. If fault is not cleared by switchgear quickly, it is likely to spread into
healthy parts, thus endangering complete shut down of the system.
 (iv) Provision for manual control. A switchgear must have provision for manual
control. In case the electrical (or electronics) control fails, the necessary operation can be
carried out through manual control.
 Switch Gear Equipments /
1. Switches: it is a device which is used to open or close an electrical circuit
in a convenient way. It can be used under full-load or no-load conditions but it
cannot interrupt the fault currents. For example Isolator or disconnecting
switch and oil switches

2. Fuses: it is a short piece of wire or thin strip which melts when excessive
current flows through it for sufficient time. fuse performs both detection and
interruption functions
 Circuit breakers: is an equipment which can open or close a circuit under
all conditions viz. no load, full load and fault conditions.
 Relays: it is a device which detects the fault and supplies information to the
breaker for circuit interruption.
 Bus/ Switching Configuration
 Arrangement of the buses/switching devices will reduce the
impact of maintenance, protection, initial substation development,
and cost
 There are six types of substation bus/switching arrangements
commonly used in air insulated substations:
1. Single bus-bar system
2. Single bus-bar system with sectionalizing
3. Double bus, double breaker
4. Main and transfer (inspection) bus
5. Double bus, single breaker
6. Ring bus
Single Bus-Bar
 Single Bus
 This arrangement involves one main bus-bar with all circuits connected directly to the bus.
 It is used in small outdoor stations having relatively few outgoing or incoming feeders and lines.
 Each generator and feeder is controlled by a circuit breaker.
 The isolators permit to isolate generators, feeders and circuit breakers from the bus-bar for
maintenance.
Advantage: low initial cost, less maintenance and simple operation.
Disadvantages.
 The bus-bar cannot be cleaned, repaired or tested without deenergising the whole system.
 If a fault occurs on the bus-bar itself, there is complete interruption of supply.
 Any fault on the system is fed by all the generating capacity, resulting in very large fault
currents.
 maintenance of devices on this system requires the deenergizing of the line connected to the
device.
 Maintenance of the bus would require the outage of the total system, use of standby generation,
or switching to adjacent station, if available.
 Since the single bus arrangement is low in reliability, it is not recommended for heavily load
Single bus-bar system with Sectionalization
 Single bus-bar system with Sectionalization
 Used in large generating stations where several units are
installed
 fault on any section of the bus-bar will not cause complete shut
down.
advantages
1. if a fault occurs on any section of the bus-bar, that section can be
isolated without affecting the supply to other sections.
2. if a fault occurs on any feeder, the fault current is much owner
than with un sectionalised bus-bar. This permits the use of
circuit breakers of lower capacity in the feeders.
3. repairs and maintenance of any section of the bus-bar can be
carried out by de energising that section only, eliminating the
possibility of complete shut-down.
Double Bus-bar, Double Breaker
 Double Bus-bar, Double Breaker
 This scheme provides a very high level of reliability by having two
separate breakers available to each circuit.
 failure of a single bus will not impact either line.
 Maintenance of a bus or a circuit breaker in this arrangement can
be accomplished without interrupting either of the circuits.
 This arrangement allows various operating options as additional
lines are added to the arrangement; loading on the system can be
shifted by connecting lines to only one bus.
 A double bus, double breaker scheme is a high-cost arrangement,
since each line has two breakers and requires a larger area for the
substation to accommodate the additional equipment.
Main and Transfer Bus
 Main and Transfer Bus-Bar
 This scheme is arranged with all circuits connected between a
main (operating) bus and a transfer bus (also referred to as an
inspection bus).
 Some arrangements include a bus tie breaker that is connected
between both buses with no circuits connected to it.
 Since all circuits are connected to the single, main bus, reliability
of this system is not very high.
 However, with the transfer bus available during maintenance, de-
energizing of the circuit can be avoided.
 Some systems are operated with the transfer bus normally de-
energized.
Double Bus, Single Breaker
 Double Bus-bar, Single Breaker
 the bus tie breaker in the closed position allows the transfer of line circuits

from bus to bus by means of the switches.

 This arrangement allows the operation of the circuits from either bus.

 In this arrangement, a failure on one bus will not affect the other bus.

However, a bus tie breaker failure will cause the outage of the entire system.

 Operating the bus tie breaker in the normally open position defeats the

advantages of the two main buses. It arranges the system into two single bus
systems, which as described previously, has very low reliability.

 Relay protection for this scheme can be complex

 With two buses and a bus tie available, there is some ease in doing

maintenance, but maintenance on line breakers and switches would still

require outside the substation switching to avoid outages.
Ring Bus
 Ring Bus
 all breakers are arranged in a ring with circuits tapped between breakers.
 For a failure on a circuit, the two adjacent breakers will trip without
affecting the rest of the system.
 Similarly, a single bus failure will only affect the adjacent breakers and
allow the rest of the system to remain energized.
 However, a breaker failure or breakers that fail to trip will require
adjacent breakers to be tripped to isolate the fault.
 Maintenance on a circuit breaker in this scheme can be accomplished
without interrupting any circuit, including the two circuits adjacent to
the breaker being maintained.
 In order to gain the highest reliability with a ring bus scheme, load and
source circuits should be alternated when connecting to the scheme
 Relaying is more complex in this scheme than some previously identified.