| dc.description.abstract | The parliament of Uganda operationalized seven cities in 2020 including Masaka, Mbale, Mbarara etc. The creation of these cities plays a key role in economic growth. As a result, there will be a shift in population from rural areas to urban areas. This relatively high population will lead to increased energy consumption. Furthermore, the existing distribution network in the majority of the cities is affected by ageing. network assets, poor voltage regulation and unreliable supply. The aim of this project was to investigate the technical and reliability performance of the existing distribution network in the case study and propose possible interventions to improve the quality of supply and support the expected load growth. A case study, Mbarara City, was chosen. This project focused on the 11kV feeders. Data required was obtained from UMEME along with a high-level scoping of the area. The network data was utilized to model the network in ArcGIS and DigSilent. Load flow analysis and reliability analysis for the system were performed. Based on the results obtained and feeder load projections for the next 10 years, two possible interventions were analyzed to address the challenges found in the network. A payback period cost analysis method was used to assess the cost implications of the interventions. Therefore, from the analysis of the interventions, the addition of two substations (Kabwohe and Mbarara Town) was found to be a more technically and financially feasible option as it improved the voltage quality of the worst-performing feeder from -37.1% to -1.7%, the loading of each of the feeders was reduced by an average of 31%, the ENS of the network reduced by approximately 50% and lower cost benefit ratio and payback period. | en_US |
