Harmonic Analysis and Challenges in Developing Country Power Grids

Post by: ejees
October 8, 2023
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Ilo, Faustinus Chinedu¹, Prof. Eke, James²
¹²Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu

ABSTRACT
Nonlinear and electronically switched loads cause harmonic pollution, distort current and voltage waveforms, and increase losses in the power system. Studies in harmonics have become prevalent with the increasing use of capacitors and power-electronic converters in power systems to improve voltage, power factor, and system reliability. Moreover, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has set the standard limit of harmonic current injected by nonlinear loads in public distribution. In this study, the focus was on modelling a power grid, harmonic analysis, and reporting of harmonic sources and distortion limit violations. The harmonic load flow examines the effect of harmonic current on the system using the Electrical Transient Analyzer Program (ETAP), version 19. The result shows violations of the IEC standard limit of voltage and current harmonic distortions. Voltage distortions were notably higher in the distribution lines compared to sub-transmission lines, with an average of 23.61% at 33kV, 21.13% at 11kV, and 7.29% at 132kV. Equally, current distortions (THDi%) were significantly higher in the distribution lines, with an average of 70.56% at 11kV, 77.39% at 33kV, and 75.28% at 132kV. In addition, the individual harmonic distortion analysis reveals 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th harmonic orders, measured at 14.76%, 14.09%, 5.14%, and 2.10% for the 11kV feeders, and 19.92%, 11.08%, 5.40%, and 3.26% for the 33kV feeders, respectively. The 132kV feeder primarily experienced significant distortion from the 5th harmonic order, measuring at 6.73%. The combination of high 5^th, 7^th, and 3^rd harmonics causes critical issues to power systems’ quality. In developing countries like Nigeria, higher harmonic distortions are common due to factors including aging infrastructure, rapid industrial growth, limited regulatory standards, inadequate investment in power quality solutions, low awareness, financial constraints, and fragile electrical grids.

Keywords: Harmonic Analysis; Radial Distribution Network; International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC); Developing Country Power Grids
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Citation: Ilo, F. C. & Eke, J. (2023). Harmonic Analysis and Challenges in Developing Country Power Grids. European Journal of Engineering and Environmental Sciences, 7(4), 1-11. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8416470
Copyright©2023 The Authors. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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