The Scope for Further Loss Minimisation on the National Grid Transmission System

Losses on the National Grid transmission system (or network) amount to around 1.4% of the total electricity transmitted, which cost National Grid #93.5 million in 2005 (in England and Wales only). The objective of the research presented is to investigate the potential for further loss reduction on the network via consideration of existing control regimes and operational procedures. The paper involves, firstly, an investigation of current practices and the regulatory framework surrounding loss minimisation. Secondly, loss minimisation is considered using optimal power flow (OPF). Results from an actual planning-optimised network and OPF computed networks were investigated. The preliminary results from this study illustrated that OPF optimised networks offer the potential for further loss minimisation (reductions between 1.1-1.7% of the existing losses) and a reduction in MVar operating costs. However the OPF studies considered only a snapshot problem and no considerations were made on depreciations costs of discrete reactive devices due to excessive operations. Hence, more detailed studies addressing these limitations are scheduled in the nature