6TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MECHANICAL AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING, MIE’2020, 24TH-25TH SEPTEMBER, 2020| ARUSHA,

TANZANIA

Feasibility Analysis of Using SWER for Homboza Village

Electrification

Michael E. Irechukwu1 and Aviti T. Mushi2

1
Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Dar es Salaam, P.O Box 35131,
[email protected], Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
2
Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Dar es Salaam, P.O Box 35131,
[email protected], Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Abstract

The level of electrification in Homboza village, one of the many rural areas in Tanzania, is very low.
Homboza village is the case study in this paper has a population of 5,565. Out of those less than 10 percent
access of electricity energy. This study attributed these three major barriers to low electrification rate. The
first barrier is the high investment costs which yield too high average costs of providing electricity services
to rural areas. The second barrier is high costs of extending the grid to rural areas. The third barrier is the
small and dispersed nature of electricity demand, arising from a population of low density and low income
levels. To overcome these and extend the power distribution this village, this paper proposes Single Wire
Earth Return (SWER) electrification scheme. This is because SWER’s installation costs are about one third
of equivalent three-phase three-wire system and one half of the single-phase systems. This paper presents
a Carson line model of SWER for Homboza village and is simulated in MATLAB 2013b, and as a
comparison, a single phase two-wire system is simulated too. The simulation results show that the earth
potential between the ground electrodes is 18.15 V for the SWER. Further, the SWER shows 10.07%
voltage drop and 10.34% power loss over 20 kilometers of distribution line. While single phase two-wire
system shows 18.89% voltage drop and 19.58% power loss over the 20 kilometers of distribution line.
There is a possibility of supplying Homboza using SWER technology.

Keywords: Power distribution networks, single phase two-wire system, SWER

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TANZANIA

1. Introduction
Energy is required for sustainable development and economic growth. Providing electricity should be
utmost priority for power utilities, despite the challenges faced. As at the year 2018, only about 37 percent
of the Tanzanian population had electricity access according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA,
2019).

These figures reveal that an alternative electrification technology for rural areas in Tanzania is required.
The existing rural grid-connected electrification technique in Tanzania is Single Phase Two-Wire (SPTW)
distribution system. Distribution systems supply industrial, commercial and residential loads with differing
total demand ratios (Qian et al., 2011). SPTW can be used for small urban areas and unreasonable to apply
for rural areas as they are not cost-effective.

Rural areas are considered residential loads characterized by (i) low population density, (ii) households of
low-income levels, and (iii) remoteness from the main grid. Selection criteria for cost-effective efficient
distribution network for rural areas must consider the characteristics of rural areas into consideration. Rural
electrification technologies could use the conventional system or the Single Wire Earth Return network
commonly known as SWER (Brooking et al., 1992).

SWER electrification scheme is a cheaper solution for electrical power extension to rural areas. SWER’s
installation costs are about half that of SPTW system. Single light-weight conductors, lighter poles,
narrower right-of-way, small pole top assembly are some of the advantages of the SWER distribution
system. An important aspect of the SWER system is earthing. Proper earthing for the safety of the rural
inhabitants is required if SWER should be implemented. The maximum potential required across the ground
electrodes is 25V (Brooking et al., 1992). SWER can allow optimal selection of conductors, and
Bakkabulindi et al. (2011) proposed a heuristic model that is able to predict when the conductors need an
upgrade.

2. SWER Line Model

The SWER line model is developed such that, the ground return path is assumed to be a conductor
of infinite length, uniform resistivity, and parallel to the overhead conductor of length b carrying

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TANZANIA

current I b (Wolfs et al., 2007). Figure 1 shows the explained SWER line model with earth return

known as Carson line model.

Fig. 1. SWER/Carson line model with earth return

The sending and receiving voltages of the earth return path and the overhead line can be calculated from
Equation (1),

Vbb'  Vb − Vb'   zbb zbe   I b 

  =  =   (1)
 V '   Ve − V '   z zee   − I b 
 ee   e   be

where, 𝐼𝑏 is the current flowing in the SWER network overhead conductor, 𝑧𝑒𝑒 is the ground self-
impedance, 𝑧𝑏𝑏 is the line self-impedance, 𝑧𝑏𝑒 is the mutual impedance between the overhead and the
ground line, 𝑉𝑏 is the overhead conductor’s voltage, and 𝑉𝑒 is the earth’s surface voltage (Ciric, 2004).
Calculations from Equation (1) result into a reference earth’s surface voltage 𝑉𝑒 as 0. With a zero-earth
voltage value, 𝑉𝑏 can be calculated from Equation (2).

Vb = ( zbb + zee − 2 zbe ) I b = Z bb I b (2)

In Equation (2), 𝑍𝑏𝑏 is the total line impedance and is a result of zbb + zee − 2 zbe . Equation (3) gives the

self-impedance, 𝑧𝑏𝑏 of the overhead conductor, where Rb is the SWER conductor resistance, hb is the

conductor height above ground level, d e is the depth of the ground return path from the earth surface, and

rb is the external radius of the conductor.

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TANZANIA

2(hb + d e )
zbb = Rb + j 4  10 −4 f ln[ ] (3)
rb

Equation (4) determines the depth of the ground return path from the earth surface. Equation (5) gives the
self-impedance of the ground conductor. Equation (6) calculates the mutual impedance between the
overhead line and the ground return conductor.

 (4)
de =


zee = 10 −4 f  [( 2 ) − j (0.31 ) + j 4  ln( 356)] (5)

(hb )
z be = j 2  10 −4 ln[ ] (6)
(  / f ) 0.5

3. Simulation for Homboza Village

3.1. Simulation Parameters

Table 1 shows properties of different SWER conductors used in the simulation. From this table, Aluminium
Conductor Steel-Reinforced (ACSR) is the SWER conductor selected for its largest cross-sectional area
and lowest unit resistance. MATLAB/Simulink 2013b is used to simulate the system and its setup is
explained next.

Table 1. Properties of different SWER conductors

Conductor type Cross section area Resistance Overall diameter Mass [kg/km]
[mm2] [Ω/km] [mm]
ACSR 49.48 0.893 9 171
Aluminium-Steel clad 10.26 5.75 5.93 118
Galvanised Steel 17.82 12.05 5.93 139
conductor

3.2. Simulation Setup

Extension of the SWER line is from the grid to the distribution center. The distribution transformers are
step-down transformers stepping down the voltage from 6.35kV to 230V . Figure 2 displays the
MATLAB/Simulink 2013b simulation. The power lines from the three-phase source to the isolation
transformer are shown. On getting to the isolation transformer, the neutral is grounded and the SWER

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TANZANIA

overhead line is connected to the distribution transformer. This simulation can give out the voltage drop
over the 20 km span of the SWER from the grid to the Homboza village load centre.

Fig. 2. Simulation of SWER line in MATLAB/Simulink 2013b

3.3. Simulation Results

The MATLAB/Simulink 2013b simulation gives the earth potential as 18.15V , and comparing to the
recommended magnitude of earth potential of 25V , is way smaller for safe implementation of this SWER
for electrifying Homboza village.

4. SPTW and SWER Comparison

4.1. Voltage and Power Loss

Two basic factors that can be used to compare SPTW and SWER networks technically are voltage drop and
power loss. Equation (7) and Equation (8) are the formulas for the voltage drop and power loss of the SPTW
distribution network respectively. Equation (9) and Equation (10) are the formulas for the voltage drop and
power loss of the SWER distribution system respectively.

V = 2Il (r cos + x sin  ) (7)

P = 2 I 2 rl (8)

V = Il[(r + re ) cos + x sin  ] (9)

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TANZANIA

P = I 2 (r + re )l (10)

Voltage drop and power loss are calculated over 20 km length of distribution line for both SWER and
SPTW. Figure 3 shows the voltage drop for SWER and SPTW (single phase). SWER has low voltage drop
by about 8 per unit. Figure 4 shows power drop of SPTW and SWER. SWER has low power drop by about
9 per unit.

20 18.89
18
16
Per-unit voltage drop

14
12 10.07
10
8
6
4
2
0
Single phase SWER
Distribution networks

Fig. 3. Voltage drop over 20 km for SPTW and SWER

25
19.58
20
Per-unit power loss

15
10.34
10

0
Single phase SWER
Distribution networks

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TANZANIA

Fig. 4. Power loss over 20 km for SPTW and SWER

4.2. Benefit Cost Ratio

Power utilities use the marginal benefit-cost ratio to know if supplying an area with a certain distribution
network would be beneficial. The benefit-cost ratio ( BC ) can be calculated from Equation (11).

PVFS K S K val
BC = (11)
DI + DO,M + ( PVFL LRMC K L )

Where, DI is the discounted value of investment stream, DO,M is the annual discounted value of operations

and maintenance costs, K S is the annual kWh sales, K L is the annual kWh losses, PVFL is the present value

for losses, LRMC is long range marginal cost for distribution, PVFS is the present value for sales, K val is the

value of kWh used.

The SWER and SPTW grid connection costs per rural household of a similar village to Homboza village
are compared in Figure 5, where the SWER cost is half that of SPTW. Further, average annual connections
for similar investment costs are shown in Figure 6 for SWER and SPTW.

1600
1350
Cost in US$ per connection

1400
1200
1000
800 670
600
400
200
0
SPTW SWER
Distribution networks

Fig. 5. SWER and SPTW grid connection costs per rural household

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160,000
135,000

Average annual connections

140,000
120,000
100,000
80,000
60,000
40,000 28,500
20,000
0
SPTW SWER
Distribution networks

Fig. 6. SWER and SPTW average annual connections for similar investment cost

5. Conclusion
This paper has discussed the advantages of SWER network over SPTW for Homboza village electrification.
SWER’s voltage drop and power loss over 20 km of distribution line are 10.07 per unit and 10.34 per unit
respectively. SPTW’s voltage drop and power loss over 20 km of distribution line are 18.89 per unit and
19.58 per unit respectively. Added to that, the grid connection cost for a household using the SPTW network
is $1350 while the SWER usage cost stands at $670. The simulation showed an earth potential of 18.15V
. Therefore, SWER is recommended for Homboza village electrification.

Acknowledgements
Appreciation goes to TANESCO staff and the officers of the Homboza village for allowing this research
to be successfully conducted.

References
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