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I'm trying to design a basic electrical system of a large island and I'm having trouble deciding for the site locations. The existing grid of the island has a diesel plant located near the town but I thought that it is a bad idea to have a plant near the load as itis dangerous. I cannot see a nearby distribution substation.

Is it possible that the distribution substation is located far from the plant? What's the purpose of putting it far from the plant if the load is nearby?

The towns are close together on the island, so I was thinking of having the generation close to the distribution substation to save cost on building transmission lines and towers.

This is snipet of the map:

enter image description here

The yellow areas are the location of the loads. The G symbol is the generation plant. It is connected to the generation substation. The blue and red circles are the distribution substations.

I'm not sure if I'm doing this right at all. My considerations for the location of the plant is that the area should be flat and available. As I chose a diesel plant which requires minimum space, I decided to have it a little closer to the load to save on cost on building transmission towers and lines.

I'm totally new to this so I'm hoping to be corrected on wrong assumptions.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Least cost factors land, security , load regulating and new distribution costs and specs like 5% for load regulated generation and 5% for distribution load regulation with PFC. \$\endgroup\$
    – Tony Stewart EE75
    Nov 5, 2021 at 20:54
  • \$\begingroup\$ fuel transport infrastructure, land ownership, cost of land and safety infrastructure, whose backyards you don't want to build things in, regulations, possibility of building material transport there, macro and micro climate, … \$\endgroup\$
    – Marcus Müller
    Nov 5, 2021 at 21:03
  • \$\begingroup\$ Please clarify your specific problem or provide additional details to highlight exactly what you need. As it's currently written, it's hard to tell exactly what you're asking. \$\endgroup\$
    – Community Bot
    Nov 5, 2021 at 21:29
  • \$\begingroup\$ An engineer, an quantity surveyer, and a politician walk into a bar... \$\endgroup\$
    – Jasen Слава Україні
    Nov 6, 2021 at 4:17
  • \$\begingroup\$ As you mention cost so extensively, solar is probably cheaper by a large margin. Just consider it. Think about the next ~30 years and what might happen in this time span. \$\endgroup\$
    – tobalt
    Nov 6, 2021 at 5:02

1 Answer 1

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All distribution systems are sub-optimal but usually designed based on...

  1. installed cost minimization if there is a risk that demand for more power may not continue to increase.
  2. total cost of ownership (installation and 30-years of operation, maintenance and interest costs with all costs discounted to net-present-value at a specific interest rate of the bonds or loan used to pay for it).

External non-expense forces can play into the decision like...

  • Zoning laws
  • Ecological impact
  • Endangered species impact
  • Lobbyists with unknown motives
  • Political favors
  • ... (many more)
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