Urban distribution network investment criteria for reliability adequacy

Distribution planning is a complex decision-making process usually formulated as a multiobjective optimization problem. The optimal solutions represent the best possible tradeoff between network investment costs, energy loss costs, and reliability costs. In the context of optimal distribution planning, we study the dependence of backup-circuit investment decisions on the cost of energy not supplied. The study results establish investment decision-making criteria for reliability adequacy. The criteria may be used to assess what is a reasonable investment on backup circuits and to evaluate the adequacy of existing backup circuit with respect to the valuation of energy not supplied.