Technical and Economical Merits of Power Systems Interconnection

Abdullah M. Al-Shaalan

Electrical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, King Saud University, Riyadh, KSA..

DOI: 10.4236/jpee.2013.14004                

Abstract

This work aims at exploring the effects of the interconnection between isolated electric power systems upon some important aspects such as enhancing reliability levels along with reducing installation and operation costs. To discern the advantages associated with this study, the developed methodology has been applied to three existing power systems in the northern region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia presently within the concession domain of the Saudi Electric Company (SEC). These systems have been established to meet the present loads and to withstand future electrical demands for a period of time before additional generation and transmission reinforcements are needed. In this work, reliability measures have been utilized to determine the period that these systems can fulfill the present and future loads without affecting the reliability levels and the threshold that an additional capacity should be added to maintain those required reliability levels. In application to the reliability criteria, technical, operational and economic advantages can be realized, i.e., higher reliability levels and lower installation and operation costs after the proposed interconnection between these selected isolated power systems take place.

Keywords

Reliability Index; Power System; Cost; Interconnection

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	I. Imdadullah, “Flexible Asynchronous ac Link for Power System Network Interconnection,” IEEE Poly-Tech Conference on Electrical Engineering Section, Cleveland, 29-31 May 2012, pp. 1-6.
[2]	M.-S. Chen, “Security Issues of Power System Interconnection,” IEEE Power Engineering Society, General Meeting, 12-16 June 2005, Vol. 2, pp. 1797-1800.
[3]	E. S. Ibrahim, “Interconnection of Electric Power Systems in the Arab World,” IEEE Power Engineering Journal, Vol. 10, No. 3, 1996, pp. 121-127. doi:10.1049/pe:19960303
[4]	A. M. Shaalan, “Essential Aspects of Power System Planning in Developing Countries,” Journal of King Saud, Engineering Science, Vol. 23, No. 1, 2011, pp. 28-32.
[5]	A. M. Shaalan, “Reliability Evaluation in Generation Expansion Planning Based on the Expected Energy Not Served,” Journal of King Saud, Engineering Science, Vol. 24, No. 1, 2012, pp. 11-18.
[6]	D. Despa, Y. Mitani, L. Changsong and M. Watanabe, “PMU Based Monitoring and Estimation of Interconnected Power Oscillation for Singapore-Malaysia Interconnection Power Systems,” IEEE Conference on Power Engineering Society General Proceedings, Singapore City, 27-29 October 2010, pp. 476-480.