Investments planning in low voltage distribution networks: Alternative model for companies with reduced database

In an Electric Power Distribution Company the planning group is responsible for the plan of work, marginal costs calculation, investment amount in a medium and long period, expansion of the electric system into new areas, among other attributions. One of the factors that guarantee the reliability of the planning systems is the use of Geographical Information System (GIS). Companies that have GIS can make the High Voltage (HV) and Medium Voltage (MV) planning with software´s like SISPLAN-AT[10] and SISPLAN-MT[11] and the analysis of investments and marginal costs with the software SISPAI-MT[12]. In general, simulation software´s of HV and MV nets have a very close behaviour compared to the reality (traditional planning) but similar fact doesn´t happen in the Low Voltage (LV) systems. Although some Companies have opted to have a complete distribution networks (nets) database, its usual to find those that decided to have a distribution net database up to the MV transformer and continued to accomplish the LV planning with the same methodology used in the past, in other words, without the appropriate computer (computational) resources. It is exactly in this point that this work will act, in way to create the necessary information so that the Companies that don´t have the distribution nets database can simulate them obtaining the necessary investments with good safety margin. This will be made with a methodology capable to simulate LV distribution networks starting from the MV data and the Company assets for Companies that don´t have, or then don´t trust in the database of these distribution networks.