Best Practices in commercial loss Reduction STRONG ADMINISTRATION WILL IS NECESSARY TO CURB THE COMMERICIAL LOSSES In order to reduce

T&D losses to an acceptable level, it is utmost necessary to carry out systematic network studies and detect the areas where losses are more. Energy Audit is a new revolutionary management tool in energy Management. Energy Audit is the first step in identifying the areas of excessive losses and it also enables us to device measures to reduce Energy losses. There are several modern techniques to overcome the commercial losses which are given below. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Powerful Energy Audit prepaid energy meter energy theft control energy management (DSM) implementation of law against pilferage GIS/GPS Proper Metering Automatic Billing Availability Based Tariff

Powerful Energy Audit In general for any unit in Power system Energy supplied = Energy Billed + Losses The Verification, Monitoring and Analysis of use of Energy including submission of technical report containing recommendations for improving

energy efficiency with cost benefit analysis and an action plan to reduce Energy Consumption. The energy sent out from substation can be measured by the substation meters. The energy billed to various consumers in that period can be added up and the losses can be computed. The efficiency of that will naturally depend on the quality of metering provided. If such a balance sheet is worked out for each section, sub-division, division, circle zone; the broad areas of higher losses can be identified. In fact, the entire approach in energy audit has to be cost effective and higher loss areas have to be attended on priority. Energy Auditing: Goals

Manage Energy Costs Promote Energy/Environmental Awareness Manage Water and other Resource Costs Verify Savings from Energy Retrofits Motivate Staff to Manage Energy Costs Set Energy Cost Savings goals and Monetary Incentives Prioritize sites for Energy Retrofits Troubleshoot unusual consumption increases Find Billing Errors Prepare to negotiate for Price and Service as Electricity undergoes

deregulation The following are Steps suggested for Better Energy Audit 1. a) b) According to the monthly billing records, the consumer are to be tackled H.T Consumer L.T Consumer on the following order of high consumption

c) d) 2. 3.
4.

Commercial Consumer Domestic Consumer Comparison should be done between the consumption of same class Large variation in H.T Consumer and L.T Consumer should be closely Each substation has been given unique code that indicates its district,

consumer to get the possibilities of theft monitored. voltage level, and serial number. Similarly the feeders emanating from each substation were also coded. Each transformer on 11kv feeder has been given unique DTC code. 5.
6.

Complete energy balance of energy supplied through an EHV or HV District wise study of consumption for various types of consumers has to Action Plan For carrying out Energy Audit program for T&D system effectively, the following action plan is done

substation has to be carried out. be carried out.

7.

a)

Calibration of all substation and consumers energy meter EHV Transmission line losses Installation of CT operated meters Totally enclosed HT metering kiosks housing metering CTs, PTs and Use of tamper proof meter Regular energy data logging at EHV, HV substation is necessary Correct assessment of consumption by unmetered consumers

b)
c)

d) e) f) g)

meters with highly secured locking system

h)

Cycle duration of Energy Audit should be fixed

Difficulties in carrying out Energy Audit 1.

2.

It is difficult to compute the energy consumed by the consumer opted for Inadequate accuracy of meters provided in substation and at consumers Incorrect recording by energy meters at EHV and minor substation. Non availability of data of energy consumed by HT/LT consumers. Billing on average if consumer meters are not read or if meters are faulty. Dynamically changing data due to load growth. Non availability of system data and standard computer facilities. Non availability of metering system on both sides of transformation

HP agricultural tariff. end.

3.

4. 5. 6.
7.

8.

equipments.

Energy Theft Control There should be an impressive need to gear up the administrative machinery and put it into action to eradicate power theft by taking effective steps on war footing basis so as to achieve optimum utilization of the total generated units of energy and there by the economic condition of any Supply Company or license could be made healthy. The following methods are used for the reduction of theft control 1. 2. Fixing of meter terminal covers \ Sealing of energy meter with proper and effective seals

3.
4.

Providing Mseal compound to the meter terminals. Fixing of energy meters in sealed and tamper proof transparent boxes so as Fixing of energy meters near the entry point of the premises so as to through inspection of installations periodically Testing of energy meters and metering equipments at frequent intervals. Sealing of bus bar installed in flat schemes where cluster of connections Providing multi channeled meters at single location to register the power Proper sealing of feeder pillar boxes as well as distribution boxes to Implementation of effective energy auditing at various levels. Carry out the study and analysis of data retrieval reports as well as the Check up for application of correct multiplying factor and CT ratio. Detect reverse meter reading. Lodge police case immediately after detection of power theft. Providing Cutout after Meter Tamper Proof Electronic Energy Meter Use of Modern Technology such as Prepaid Meter, Remote Metering Energy Accounting and Energy Audit, Consumer / Feeder wise /

to prevent external magnetic fields influence on the performance of meter

5.

facilitate easy reading and inspection. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

12.

are located consumption of individual consumer. prevent free accessibility to the live portions for committing theft of electricity.

Consumers Personal Ledger (CPL) for ascertaining correct consumption trend 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19.

Substation wise / Subdivision / Division / Circle / Zone Energy Management

Energy in the form of electricity is recognized as a basic necessity for the economic development and social progress. Constraints and uncertainties surrounding fuel availability, monsoon sitting requirements, financing and demand forecast have made it increasingly difficult for utilities to add large scale capacity and additional interconnections to their supply and distribution system. Against this background a variety of new techniques, planning and control procedures are to be implemented to satisfy the demanding power system requirement. There is shortage of peaking capacity in most of the regions and they are interconnected to form a regional network. Thus, subnormal frequency operations, inadvertent tie line flows, indifferent reactive power flow and system separations occur and it takes much time to restore the normalcy. The present tariff structure does not provide for differential rates for energy in different times of the day and there is no penalty for the individual system overdrawing in peak and dumping off peak period. Load Management In ideal power system, to ensure the system security and reliability, no imbalance should exist between the total generation and the total demand. At every given point of time, the generation shall match the load and the frequency maintained at 50Hz. Objectives
a)

To reduce the average cost of electricity Generally improved power factor Reduce the need for generating capacity by shifting the electricity Improve the system efficiency through sharing electric energy

b) c)
d)

use from peak to off peak provided by relatively inefficient units.

Load Management Techniques 1. Network Islanding This is adopted under certain emergency conditions of the system. The network is split into island; each island has limits of frequency. When the frequency begins to decrease, the homogeneous network is split into definite sections predetermined points by frequency sensitive relays. 2. Direct load Control It is the control by electric utility of specific consumer load. These loads are cycled or differed during the period of system peak load. 3. Tariff Based Load Shedding In this the consumer are grouped for load shedding as under Group 1 : No Tripping Group 2 : To trip at 49Hz Group 3 : To trip at 48.5Hz Group 4 : To trip at 48Hz The tariff is arranged in such a way that group 1 is charged at highest rate and group 2 at the least. Others are graded suitably at rates between group 1&2. 4. Voluntary Load Control In this economic incentives and disincentives are offered through the electric rate structure. This is sometimes referred as flattering of load curves. It is to bring down the day peak demand and increase the night low load hour demand.