Abstract
Looking at the economic and
technological growth of South Africa over the
last 50 years up to 2016, it is evident that
electricity is an essential factor. The need for a
reliable power distribution system has grown
tremendously over this period. The majority of
households and businesses rely on the functions
of electric appliances and equipment to assist
with daily tasks such as cooking, bathing, etc.
Customer and energy based reliability indices
are important to evaluate a predictive
performance of distribution network systems. A
case study of energy demands in Jabulani,
Soweto, has been presented to evaluate the
optimum failure rate and repair time for each
section, so as to achieve the desired reliability
goals in terms of the mentioned indices.
Applying this reliability method helps in
monitoring the distribution network feeders
and, consequently, improving their reliability.
This paper describes a methodology for
reliability enhancement of distribution network
system by calculating the reliability indices
such as (SAIDI-) System Average Interruption
Duration index, (SAIFI-) System Average
Interruption Frequency Index and (RSLI-)
Reticulation System Loss Index, in order to
determine the improvements that can be made
to the distribution network using the reliability
based methodology.