Reconfiguring a primary industrial network based on reliability studies

Reliability is a topic with increasing relevance in the field of power system engineering, since it actually combines the technical and economical aspects of a problem, evaluating quantitatively the availability of an electrical system and helping the engineer make the right decision. The technical and economical studies in this article analyze the reconfiguration of a primary distribution electrical network from 6.6 kV to 13.8 kV in a refinery in Mexico whose main activity is the production of refined oils for several applications. The most important aspects covered are: an outline of the different alternatives to modernize the oil refinery under study; reliability analysis upgrading the network from 6.6 kV to 13.8 kV, determining power and energy not available due to outages; and an economical analysis in a 20-year horizon, comparing the capital cost with the reliability cost.