Modeling medium and low voltage grids using population density

Fuente: arXiv
Enregistré dans:
Détails bibliographiques
Auteurs principaux: Emery, Emile, Bihan, Joseph Le, Halloy, José
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
Sujets:
Accès en ligne:
Tags: Ajouter un tag
Pas de tags, Soyez le premier à ajouter un tag!
_version_ 1866911450730070016
author Emery, Emile
Bihan, Joseph Le
Halloy, José
author_facet Emery, Emile
Bihan, Joseph Le
Halloy, José
contents The expansion of global electricity distribution systems necessitates the deployment of massive infrastructure. Assessing its implications from a spatial and material perspective requires an understanding of the core drivers of a distribution grid configuration. Our model samples substation locations using a non-linear relationship with population density and constructs the network applying the Kruskal algorithm. This streamlined approach generates realistic grid structures at the local scale and provides accurate estimates of the total network length at the national scale. Using highly granular population data, this local model reveals a profound connection between population spread and distribution grid, which appears to persist at the global level. Potentially driven by the emergent properties of population scaling laws, the full network characteristics appear to be well described by multivariate power laws on aggregated population and area. Validated across 35 countries, these results provide new multi-scale tools for characterizing electrical infrastructure and reveal key determinants of distribution grid extent.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_14894
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Modeling medium and low voltage grids using population density
Emery, Emile
Bihan, Joseph Le
Halloy, José
Physics and Society
The expansion of global electricity distribution systems necessitates the deployment of massive infrastructure. Assessing its implications from a spatial and material perspective requires an understanding of the core drivers of a distribution grid configuration. Our model samples substation locations using a non-linear relationship with population density and constructs the network applying the Kruskal algorithm. This streamlined approach generates realistic grid structures at the local scale and provides accurate estimates of the total network length at the national scale. Using highly granular population data, this local model reveals a profound connection between population spread and distribution grid, which appears to persist at the global level. Potentially driven by the emergent properties of population scaling laws, the full network characteristics appear to be well described by multivariate power laws on aggregated population and area. Validated across 35 countries, these results provide new multi-scale tools for characterizing electrical infrastructure and reveal key determinants of distribution grid extent.
title Modeling medium and low voltage grids using population density
topic Physics and Society
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.14894