SKEE2413

Basic Power and Electric

Machines
Topic 3:
Power System Loads
ADAPTED FROM TEACHING MODULE SEE 3423: BASIC POWER ENGINEERING
BY PM FARIDAH MOHD TAHA, PM DR. AZHAR KHAIRUDDIN

OUTLINES
Introduction
Types Of Loads
Terms And Definitions
Load Profile Or Load Curve
Load Duration Curve
Load Factor
Diversity Factor
Load Sharing Between Base Load And Peak Load
Tariff
Power Factor

OBJECTIVES
Student should be able to:

1. Explain the types of electrical loads.

2. Define and determine various terms and factors in power
plant engineering.
3. Explain the nature of loads and how they are met.

4. Explain, determine and analyzed tariff and energy

consumption and cost of consumers.

INTRODUCTION
In our daily life we use many form of energy such as
mechanical, heat and light.
Electricity is special as it can easily be transform to these
forms of energy.
This chapter discusses characteristics and ways of electricity
being used and how utility meet these demands economically,
effectively and satisfactorily.

TYPES OF LOADS
Residential load:
This type of load includes domestic lights, power needed
for domestic appliances such as radios, televisions, water
heaters, refrigerators, rice cookers, fans, small motors etc.

Commercial load:
It includes lighting and air-conditioning for shopping
complexes, offices, hospitals and schools.

TYPES OF LOADS
Industrial load:
It consists of various demands of industries. The main loads in
the sector are three phase induction motors.
Public lighting and Municipal loads:
Mostly consist of street and city/town lighting, power required
for water supply and drainage purposes.
Agricultural load:
Motors for irrigation and lighting.
Mining load:
Motors for pumping etc.

TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

Connected load:
The connected load on any system, or part of a system, is the
combined continuous rating of all the receiving apparatus on
consumers premises, which is connected to the system, or part
of the system, under consideration.

TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

Demand:
The demand of an installation or system is the load that drawn
from the source of supply at the receiving terminals averaged
over a suitable and specified interval of time.
Demand is expressed in kilowatts (kW), kilovolts-amperes
(kVA), amperes (A), or other suitable units.

TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

Maximum or peak demand or load:

The maximum demand of an installation or system is the

greatest of all demands that have occurred during a given
period.
It is determined by measurement, according to specifications,
over a prescribed interval of time.

TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

Base Load:
It is the unvarying load which occurs almost the whole day
on the power station.
It is the lowest load to be supplied at any time.
Intermediate load:

Loads between the base and peak loads that have to be fed
by the system.

LOAD PROFILE OR LOAD CURVE.

A load curve is a graphic record showing the power demands
for every instant during a certain time interval.

Such a record may cover

i.
ii.
iii.
iv.

one hour, in which case it would be an hourly load profile;

24 hours, in which case it would be a daily load profile;
a month in which case it would be a monthly load profile;
a year (8760 hours), in which case it would be a yearly
load profile.

A load profile will vary according to customer type (typical examples include residential,
commercial and industrial), temperature and holiday seasons.

LOAD PROFILE OR LOAD CURVE.

The following points are worth noting:
1. The area under the load curve represents the energy
generated in the period considered.
2. The area under the curve divided by the total number of
hours gives the average load on the power system.
3. The peak load indicated by the load curve represents the
maximum demand of the power system.
4. The base load is the lowest demand registered.

LOAD PROFILE OR LOAD CURVE.

Villa load profile in Al Ain (Source: AADC).

Load profiles could be an hourly, daily, monthly, or annually, depending on the nature of
analysis carried out and the level of precision required. This load assessment reveals the
power consuming behavior of the people occupying the building.

Brazilian residential load profiles.

Source: Eletrobrs (2005).

Measured hourly electrical load profiles for Building A. (Commercial Load)

LOAD PROFILE OR LOAD CURVE.

Significance of load curve or load profile:
1. Give information about the incoming load and help to
decide the installed capacity of the power station and to
decide the economical sizes of various generating units.

2. Help to estimate the generating cost and to decide the

operating schedule of the power station i.e., the
sequence in which different units should be run.

LOAD DURATION CURVE.

Represents rearrangements of all the load elements of
chronological load curve in order of descending
magnitude.

Fig shows a typical daily load

curve for a power station.
It may be observed that the
maximum load on power
station is 35 kW from 8 a.m.
to 2 p.m.

LOAD DURATION CURVE.

The load curve that are
plotted in descending order is
the same figure to form the
load duration curve

LOAD DURATION CURVE.

Points to be noted:
1. The area under the load duration curve represents the
total energy delivered by the generating station.
2. Load duration curve gives a clear analysis of
generating power economically.
3. Proper selection of base power plants and peak load
power plants become easier.

LOAD FACTOR
Definition:
The load factor is the ratio of the average power to the
maximum demand.
The load factor should be high; if it is unity, all the plant is
being used over all of the period.
It varies with the type of load, being poor for lighting and high
for industrial load (e.g. 100% percent for pumping stations).

LOAD FACTOR

LOAD FACTOR

LOAD FACTOR

DIVERSITY FACTOR
Defined as the sum of individual maximum demands of the
consumers, divided by the maximum load on the system.
This factor measures the diversification of the load and is
concerned with the installation of sufficient generating and
transmission plant.
If all the demand occurred simultaneously, diversity factor would
be unity, many more generators would have to be installed.
However, the factor is usually higher especially for domestic loads.

DIVERSITY FACTOR

Higher diversity factor

could be obtained if
consumers could be
persuaded to take load
as shown in case 1

DIVERSITY FACTOR

DIVERSITY FACTOR

LOAD SHARING BETWEEN

BASE LOAD AND PEAK LOAD
In examining the load curve, it is noted that the load on the power
station or power system is seldom constant.
The load may be considered into three parts:
base load

: unvarying load which occurs almost all the

time on the power station.
peak load : various peak demands of the load over and
above the base load.
intermediate load : between the above two loads.

LOAD SHARING BETWEEN

BASE LOAD AND PEAK LOAD
Base Power plants
Deliver full power at all times. Nuclear and coal-fired stations are
particularly well adapted to furnish base demand.
Thermal power station using gas or coal take from 4 to 8 hours to
start up, while nuclear stations may take several days.
The economic characteristics of base load plants should be :
i. supply power at high capital costs
ii. low costs of operation.
iii. high load factors
iv. very efficient.

LOAD SHARING BETWEEN

BASE LOAD AND PEAK LOAD
Intermediate power plants
The stations can respond relatively quickly to changes in
demand, usually by adding or removing one or more generating
units.
Hydropower stations are well suited for this purpose.

LOAD SHARING BETWEEN

BASE LOAD AND PEAK LOAD
Peak generating stations
Deliver power for brief intervals during the day.
Such stations must be put into service very quickly.
They are equipped with prime movers such as diesel engines,
gas turbines, compressed air motors, or pumped storage
turbines that can be started up in a few minutes.
The peak load plants should be inexpensive in starting and
shutting down operations.
The economic characteristics should be they supply power at
low capital costs, although at high cost of operation

EXAMPLE 1

a)
b)
c)
d)

Plot the load profile.

Plot load duration curve.
Choose suitable generating units to supply the load
Determine the maximum demand, energy generated per day,
average load and load factor

SOLUTION EXAMPLE 1

SOLUTION EXAMPLE 1

SOLUTION EXAMPLE 1

SOLUTION EXAMPLE 1
Maximum demandfrom the load curve the maximum demand on the power station is 150
MW and occur during the period 14-18 hours.
Energy generated/ day = 45x6 + 136x6 +90x2 +150x4 + 75x6
= 270 + 810 +180 + 600 + 450
= 2310 MW

TARIFFS
Power utility charges consumers for the use of their
electricity.
The rate at which electrical energy is supplied to a
consumer is known as tariff.
Each company has its own set of tariffs. The following
items are chargeable:
(a) Usage charge: amount of electricity consumed in kWh,
(b) Capacity charge: maximum demand in kW,
(c) Reactive power charge: penalty for poor power factor.

TARIFFS
Charges are usually made on the monthly usage.

Some supply authorities encourage consumers to use high

voltages by reducing tariffs charges for the kWh consumption
while others do not.
Another incentive in the form of lower kWh charges during offpeak hours (usually from midnight to dawn) is given to
consumers to encourage them to operate during these hours
when the overall electricity consumption is low.

TARIFFS
The TNB new tariff implanted as from 1st June 2011 provides
16 group of consumers.
Tariff A is for residential, tariffs B, C1 and C2 are for
commercial, and tariffs D, E1, E2, E3 are for industrial sector.
Special tariffs for mining, public lighting and agriculture are
also available.

TNB TARIFF

EXAMPLE 2

In June 06, Madam Kamala consumed 300 kWh of electricity.

Determine her electricity bill for the month.

SOLUTION EXAMPLE 2

EXAMPLE 3

SOLUTION EXAMPLE 3

POWER FACTOR
Power Factor is an index used to compute the efficiency level of
electricity usage. The index is measured from 0 to 1. A higher index
shows efficient usage of electricity and vice versa. Low power factor
shortens the lifespan of electrical appliances and causes power system
losses to TNB.
To understand power factor, we will start with the definition of some
basic terms:KW: Working Power (also called Actual Power, Active Power or Real Power).
It is the power that powers equipment and performs useful work.
KVAR: Reactive Power. It is the power which magnetic equipment such as
transformers, motors and relays need to produce the magnetizing flux.
KVA: Apparent Power. It is the vectorial summation of KVAR and KW.

POWER FACTOR
Power Factor is the ratio of Working Power to
Apparent Power.
Power Factor = KW / KVA
For efficient usage of electricity, power factor must
approach 1.0. Power factor that is less than 0.85
shows inefficient use of electricity.
Calculation for Power Factor =
KWh
_
(KWh2 + KVARh2)

Causes of Low Power Factor

Low power factor is caused by inductive loads, which are
sources of reactive power.
Examples of inductive loads are: Transformers
Induction motors
High Intensity Discharge (HID) lighting

Inductive loads constitute a major portion of power

consumed by commercial and industrial sectors.

How to Improve Your Power

Factor
Customers are advised to follow these steps: Install capacitors (KVAR Generators)
Capacitor
Corrector
Synchronous generators
Synchronous motors
Minimize operations of idling or lightly loaded motors.
Avoid operating equipment above its rated voltage.
Replace standard motors as they burn out with energy
efficient motors.

Benefits of Improving Power

Factor
Benefit 1: Reducing KW billing demand
Low Power Factor requires high reactive power (KVAR) and
apparent power (KVA), which is the power that TNB supplies.
Therefore, a facilitys low power factor forces TNB to increase
its generation and transmission capacity in order to handle
this extra demand.
By increasing power factor, customers use less KVAR. This
results in less KW, which equates to RM savings for TNB.

Benefits of Improving Power

Factor
Benefit 2: Eliminating power factor surcharge
Utility companies all around the world charge customers an
additional surcharge when their power factor is less than
0.95. In fact, some utilities are not obliged to deliver
electricity to their customers at any time the customers
power factor falls below 0.85.
Thus, customer can avoid this additional surcharge by
increasing power factor. In Malaysia, TNB is allowed through
the Malaysian Grid Code and the Malaysian Electricity
Distribution Code, to impose a surcharge to the customer if
the power factor is <0.85 for customers receiving less than
132kV .

Benefits of Improving Power

Factor
Benefit 3: Increased system capacity and reduced system
losses in your electrical system
Low power factor causes power system losses in the
customers electrical system. By improving power factor,
these losses can be reduced. With the current rise in the cost
of energy, increased facility efficiency is
important. Moreover, with lower system losses, customers
are able to add additional load in their electrical system.

Benefits of Improving Power

Factor
Benefit 4: Increased voltage level in your electrical system,
resulting in more efficient motors
As mentioned before, low power factor causes power system
losses in customers electrical system. As power losses
increase, customer may experience a voltage drop. Excessive
voltage drops can cause overheating and premature failure of
motors and other inductive equipment.
Therefore, by raising the power factor, customers can
minimize these voltage drops along feeder cables and avoid
related problems. Motors will run more efficiently, with a
slight increase in capacity and starting torque.

Power Factor Surcharge

Power factor surcharge is imposed when your power
factor is less than 0.90 (electricity supply 132kV and
above) or less than 0.85 (electricity supply below
132 kV).

How it is Calculated
Power factor surcharge for customers with
electricity supply below 132 kV is calculated as
follows:1.5% surcharge of the current bill for every 0.01
less than 0.85 power factor.
3% surcharge of the current bill for every 0.01 less
than 0.75 power factor.

Example 4:Current bill: RM2,000

Power Factor
Surcharge

= 0.80
= [(0.85 0.80) / 0.01] x 1.5% x RM2,000
= RM150

Example 5:Current bill: RM2,000

Power Factor

= 0.75

Surcharge

= [(0.85 0.75) / 0.01] x 1.5% x RM2,000

= RM300

Example 6:Current bill: RM2,000

Power Factor

= 0.60

Surcharge

= [((0.85 0.75) / 0.01) x 1.5% x RM2,000] + [((0.75

0.60) / 0.01) x 3% x RM2,000]
= RM1200