Using terrain information in an electrification planning tool

In South Africa, just about 50% of the population has access to electricity, hence the impetus of the national electrification drive. Presently, large-scale electrification planning is time-consuming and tedious, thus hindering optimisation. An automated tool, proposed recently, rapidly derives first pass solutions. It focuses on grid extensions to potential grid candidates but ignores terrain information. Its output consists of ´straight-line trees´ representing these extensions and therefore assumes uniform terrain. This paper discusses the inclusion of geographical information in the planning process thereby producing more realistic designs and cost estimates of electrification projects. The existing planning tool is incorporated onto a fully geographical platform, using commercial GIS software, and the implications of routing across geographical features such as farms, rivers, roads and steep terrain are considered. This GIS tool provides the planner with a means to compare costs of alternative routes produced as a result of terrain consideration and hence enables optimisation