Power Flow Analysis of Radial Distribution System with the Impact of Ambient Temperature and Load Growth

In this paper, the impact of ambient temperature and compounded load growth on the power flow in radial distribution systems is studied. The study begins by evaluating conductor temperature variations due to changes in ambient temperature using heat balance equations. As the conductor temperature varies, the resistance of the conductor is altered. This subsequently affects the power flow parameters in the distribution system like, voltage, current and real & reactive power losses. The analysis is carried out by considering three cases: (1) Conventional power flow, (2) the impact of ambient temperature on conventional power flow, and (3) the impact of ambient temperature with load growth on conventional power flow. To study the impact of ambient temperature on radial distribution systems, the power flow algorithm incorporates thermal modelling of conductor temperature, taking into account ambient temperature and specific weather conditions. The impact of load growth is studied for the same ambient temperature and weather conditions. These impacts are examined on the IEEE 69 RDS bus system. An increase of 11 to 12% and 72 to 84% in the deliberate losses with the temperature only and both temperature & load growth, respectively. The study found that the ambient temperature with load growth significantly impacts the resistance of the conductor and increases the power losses.