114. Optimal Future Network for Mumbai

The Indian utility Reliance Energy Ltd. (REL) operates Mumbai supply area with 1200 MW peak load by 220/33/22/11 kV networks. On the distribution level with more than 4000 distribution Sub-stations of medium to low voltage the supply situation was characterized by high losses and frequent interruptions. The network had grown over years and some replacement works as well as expansion work to meet the load growth were urgently necessary. At this stage, in 2003, the management decided to carry out a major system study – for network optimization, distribution automation and automatic meter reading – together with Siemens, in order to optimize the upcoming investments and to define the priorities. This paper shows the approach of network optimization with the identification of weak points in the existing network as well as the selection of the target network structure and its verification with principle networks and concrete modeling in Mumbai area.