Power Economics and Management

2nd Semester, 3rd Year

B.E Electrical Engg. Program

Dr. Pervez Hameed Shaikh

Associate Professor

Lecture # 13
Economics of Power Losses

Department of Electrical Engineering

Mehran University of Engg. & Technology, Jamshoro
Electricity/Power System Losses

 Power system losses refer to the difference between

bulk energy purchased from the national grid and the
total energy accounted for expressed as a percentage.
 The total energy accounted for comprises of billed
energy of various consumer Groups.
SOURCES OF LOSSES
 Ignorance
 Uncertainty
 Up-gradation of Human Resources
 Poor Tariff Structure
 Indiscipline
 Technical :Joints ,Neutral Conductor Size, Length Of
the Line
 Energy Audit
 Energy Management
 Energy Forecast
Economics of Power Losses

 Transmission and distribution losses are inevitable

consequences of transmitting and distributing
energy between the generation plants, substations
and consumers
Continue…

 Losses do not provide revenues for the utilities and

industrial plants, and are often one of the controlling
factors when evaluating alternative planning and
operating strategies.
 The amount of losses will be influenced by a number
of technical and operational factors, such as network
configuration, load characteristics, substations in
service, and power quality required.
Continue…
 In general, losses are estimated from the
discrepancy between energy produced (as reported
by power plants) and energy sold to end customers;
the difference between what is produced and what
is consumed constitute transmission and
distribution losses.
Types of Power losses

 I2R losses HT and  Non-Collection of

LT lines billed units of
 Transformation energy
losses at different
voltage levels
Types of Losses

 Technical losses are possible to compute and

control
 Non-technical losses are due to human
manipulation or errors and are therefore external to
the power systems
 Non-technical losses are very difficult to measure.
Technical Losses in Power Systems

 Technical losses result from equipment

inefficiency, the inherent characteristics of the
materials used in the lines and equipment, and the
sizes of lines and equipment.
 The three major contributors are the current
squared losses through a resistance, transformer
excitation losses, and line and insulation corona or
leakage losses.
Continue…..

 In AC systems the copper losses are higher due to

skin effect. Due to skin effect, the flux density at
the centre of the conductor is great and current
flow towards the surface of the conductor is
greater.

 Therefore the skin effect increases the resistance

and thus the power loss. The increase in resistance
is proportional to the frequency of the AC signal.
Continue…..

 Transformer losses include copper losses due to

the internal impedance of transformer coils and
core loss.
 Power transformers are connected permanently to
the power system; hence their no-load losses have
to be considered.
 No-load losses are a function of the type of
lamination, core material, insulation, voltage and
frequency.
Type of Technical Losses

 Permanent / Fixed Technical losses

 Fixed losses do not vary according to current.
 These losses take the form of heat and noise and occur as long
as a transformer is energized.
 Corona Losses
 Leakage Current Losses
 Dielectric Losses
 Open-circuit Losses
 Losses caused by continuous load of measuring elements
 Losses caused by continuous load of control elements
 Variable Technical losses
Variable losses vary with the amount of electricity
distributed and are, more precisely, proportional to
the square of the current.

 Joule losses in lines in each voltage level

 Impedance losses
 Losses caused by contact resistance.
Major Transmission losses
 Losses due to the phenomena of corona.
 Copper losses in conductors.
 Skin effect.
 Proximity effect.
Distribution System Losses…
Commercial Losses
 Tapping(Hooking) in LT lines.

 Faulty energy meters\ unmetered

supply.
 Errors and delay in meter reading

and billing.
 Uneven revenue collection.
 Non Technical losses (Commercial losses) in
Power System
 NTLs, by contrast, relate mainly to power theft in one
form or another.
 They are related to the Customer management process
and can include a number of means of consciously
defrauding the utility concerned .
 By default, the electrical energy generated should
equal the energy registered as consumed. However, in
reality, the situation is different because losses occur as
an integral result of energy transmission and
distribution.
Continue…

 Non-technical losses are related to meter reading,

defective meter and error in meter reading, billing of
customer energy consumption, lack of
administration, financial constraints, and estimating
unmetered supply of energy as well as energy thefts.
 The information about the power sources and loads
are needed to determine expected losses in the power
system using load flow analysis software.
Continue…

 The actual losses are the difference between

outgoing energy recorded by the source (e.g., at a
substation) and energy consumed by the
consumers, which is shown on the bills.
 The non technical losses are not easy to calculate
because they contains a major portion of
transmission & distribution losses.
Continue…

 Non-technical losses can also be viewed as

undetected load of customers that the utilities don’t
know. When an undetected load is attached to the
system, the actual losses increase while the losses
expected by the utilities will remain the same.
 The increased losses will show on the utilities’
accounts, and the costs will be passed along to the
customers as transmission and distribution charges.
Economics of Power Losses-Pakistan
21

 The transmission and distribution (T&D) losses were valued at PKR

140 billion in 2012.
 In August 2013, the Secretary of Water and Power Ministry
informed the Senate Standing Committee that
 Pakistan loses annually PKR 150 billion (USD 1.7 billion) in line
losses and power theft.
 Until August, 2013- 23770 cases of theft were registered and under
trial
 But only 3 cases were punished. Moreover, the fine imposed was under
PKR 5000 in each case.

 Lacunae in the accountability mechanism requires amendments in

Pakistan Penal Code so that there is certainty of effective
punishment in cases of power theft
 Power T & D Losses (% of output)
22
 THANK
YOU
*********