How Can GIS Help in the Planning of Power Distribution and Transmission Lines?
In India, the loss due to power transmission and distribution is huge, which is close to 20%, three times higher than the total loss of the US. That is almost 1/5th of the electricity going to waste. These technical losses are actually caused due to the conductors used, sub-transmission lines, transformers, magnetic loss in transformers, and theft. That can sum up the losses to a major extent.
Here are the following ways on how the loss due to transmission can be reduced by using GIS and spatial data analysis:
- At every transformation stage in the consumer’s premises, there should be 100% metering.
- Electronic meters should be installed in feeders and distribution transformers.
- The data from the feeders can be downloaded to a device to build a user-friendly MIS for making quick decisions and to increase the efficiency of the system.
- By proper data recording from the outgoing feeders, substations, all the energy billed, and also the loss due to T&D can be accounted for the total energy.
GIS can be used in the above-mentioned fields for the development of a consumer database and indexing. A unique identification number called consumer index number is used to identify the spatial and non-spatial data that is recorded by using GIS techniques to mapping the consumers. This unique number can also be used to map all the distribution network’s substations, feeders, transformers, DT and LT feeders, etc.
Buffer zones can be build using spatial information that can help in creating a route for the high tension wires near a populated area. During an electrical network expansion, the buffer zone concept can be used in transformer installation planning.
