Study of a new electrical distribution network as a consequence of a very large load increase in an oil-refinery plant

The electrical network of an existing oil-refinery plant was analysed in detail in order to retrofit it for a large load demand increase. Many problems were faced and solved: a new network structure at higher voltage level was superimposed onto the existing one; heavy space constraints for the new 150 kV station led to a GIS solution for which detailed technical specifications were drawn; the presence of on-site generators imposed a study of dynamic performance of the system; and for the 150 kV oil-filled cables, supplying the plant from an external grid, appropriate surge arresters were selected. The article describes the approach used by the authors to face different problems and shows main results of the performed studies