Power Flow Analysis and Optimization in Ring Distribution Network of Bahawalpur using Newton Raphson Method

Background: The primary motive of an electrical power system is to generate and supply electric power efficiently and reliably to the consumer-end. Transmission losses, system instability and increasing cost in proportion to demand are the main challenges faced in this process. Power flow analysis is required to robustly predict the active / reactive power within the buses, voltage magnitude / phase angles at each bus, cost of transmission and losses well before the practical installation of the power network. Methods/Statistical Analysis: In this paper, we employ power flow analysis using Newton Raphson method and Fast Decoupled method to minimize cost of the electricity and finding optimum active and reactive powers without affecting the voltage regulation. The power flow algorithms are applied for solving the aforementioned load flow problem for ring distribution network of Bahawalpur. We carried out the modeling by obtaining realistic data for constructing bus admittance matrix and specifications of generation units and loads which are connected at the buses. Findings: As a result, optimum flow of power along with the voltage values among different regions of Bahawalpur is obtained. The results from both the algorithms successfully converge and there is an absolute match to validate the accuracy. Novelty: These novel results are of paramount importance since the proposed architecture of Bahawalpur is ring distribution network to replace the existing radial network for improved performance. Furthermore, this research will pave the way for power system planning of Bahawalpur region where all the electrical parameters are known beforehand to design the components according to the requirement. Keywords: Electric power system; voltage magnitude; phase angle; power flow analysis; Newton Raphson method; ring distribution network; active power; reactive power