Power Distribution System

Eng. (Ms.) H.C. Ganege

Introduction
• Electricity Demand Growth
• Population growth
• New facilities, industries
• More appliance in homes

•Economic growth is proportionate

to the demand growth and the
energy consumption.
Power Distribution System
• The distribution system is that part of the electric utility between the
bulk power source and the costumers’ service switches.
Distribution system
Demand on high power quality and reliability
Load are changing (Ex. Lighting, Motors, Household applications,
Air conditioners and Heating, Computers, Industrial
equipment)
Some of these loads are very sensitive

High penetration of Distribution Generations

Variable load on power station
The load on a power station varies from time to time due to
uncertain demands of the consumers and is known as variable
load on the station.

A power station is designed to meet the load requirements of

the consumers. An ideal load on the station, from stand point
of equipment needed and operating routine, would be one of
constant magnitude and steady duration. However, such a
steady load on the station is never realised in actual practice.
Variable load on power station
The consumers require their small or large block of power in
accordance with the demands of their activities. Thus, the
load demand of one consumer at any time may be different
from that of the other consumer. The result is that load on the
power station varies from time to time.
 Effects of variable load
The variable load on a power station introduces many perplexities in its operation.
Some of the important effects of variable load on a power station are :
(i) Need of additional equipment.
The variable load on a power station necessitates to have additional equipment.
By way of illustration, consider a steam power station. Air, coal and water are the
raw materials for this plant. In order to produce variable power, the supply of
these materials will be required to be varied correspondingly. For instance, if the
power demand on the plant increases, it must be followed by the increased flow
of coal, air and water to the boiler in order to meet the increased demand.
Therefore, additional equipment has to be installed to accomplish this job. As a
matter of fact, in a modern power plant, there is much equipment devoted
entirely to adjust the rates of supply of raw materials in accordance with the
power demand made on the plant.
Effects of variable load
(ii) Increase in production cost.
The variable load on the plant increases the cost of the production of
electrical energy. An alternator operates at maximum efficiency near its
rated capacity. If a single alternator is used, it will have poor efficiency
during periods of light loads on the plant. Therefore, in actual practice,
a number of alternators of different capacities are installed so that
most of the alternators can be operated at nearly full load capacity.
However, the use of a number of generating units increases the initial
cost per kW of the plant capacity as well as floor area required. This
leads to the increase in production cost of energy.
Load Characteristics and Consumer
Classification
Measures of Load Distribution
 Load Curve
The curve showing the variation of load on the power station with respect to
(w.r.t) time is known as a load curve.

• Daily load curve

• Monthly load curve
• Yearly load curve
Daily Load Curve
Importance of Daily Load Curve
• Base Load
Unvaried load during the considered time duration

• Peak Load
Varied load during the considered time duration (Varies peak load)
 Load Duration Curve
When the load elements of a load curve are arranged in the order of
descending magnitudes, the curve thus obtained is called a load duration
curve.
Load Curve Load Duration Curve
Types of Loads (Considering Application)
Types of Loads
A device which taps electrical energy from the electric power
system is called a load on the system. The load may be resistive
(e.g., electric lamp), inductive (e.g., induction motor), capacitive or
some combination of them.

The various types of loads on the power system are :

Domestic load
Commercial load
Industrial load
Municipal load
Irrigation load
Traction load
Domestic load.
Domestic load consists of lights, fans, refrigerators, heaters, television, small motors for
pumping water etc. Most of the residential load occurs only for some hours during the day
(i.e., 24 hours) e.g., lighting load occurs during night time and domestic appliance load occurs
for only a few hours. For this reason, the load factor is low (10% to 12%).

Commercial load.
Commercial load consists of lighting for shops, fans and electric appliances used in restaurants
etc. This class of load occurs for more hours during the day as compared to the domestic load.
The commercial load has seasonal variations due to the extensive use of airconditioners and
space heaters.

Industrial load.
Industrial load consists of load demand by industries. The magnitude of industrial load
depends upon the type of industry. Thus small scale industry requires load upto 25 kW,
medium scale industry between 25kW and 100 kW and large-scale industry requires load
above 500 kW. Industrial loads are generally not weather dependent.
Municipal load.
Municipal load consists of street lighting, power required for water supply and drainage
purposes. Street lighting load is practically constant throughout the hours of the night. For
water supply, water is pumped to overhead tanks by pumps driven by electric motors.
Pumping is carried out during the off-peak period, usually occurring during the night. This
helps to improve the load factor of the power system.

Irrigation load.
This type of load is the electric power needed for pumps driven by motors to supply water
to fields. Generally this type of load is supplied for 12 hours during night.

Traction load.
This type of load includes tram cars, trolley buses, railways etc. This class of load has wide
variation. During the morning hour, it reaches peak value because people have to go to
their work place. After morning hours, the load starts decreasing and again rises during
evening since the people start coming to their homes.
Important Terms and
Factors
Connected load
It is the sum of continuous ratings of all the equipments connected to
supply system.
A power station supplies load to thousands of consumers. Each consumer
has certain equipment installed in his premises. The sum of the continuous
ratings of all the equipments in the consumer’s premises is the “connected
load” of the consumer.

For instance, if a consumer has connections of five 100-watt lamps and a

power point of 500 watts, then connected load of the consumer is 5 × 100 +
500 = 1000 watts. The sum of the connected loads of all the consumers is
the connected load to the power station.
Maximum demand
It is the greatest demand of load on the power station during a given
period.

The load on the power station varies from time to time. The maximum of all
the demands that have occurred during a given period (say a day) is the
maximum demand.
Maximum demand
Maximum demand is generally less than the connected load because all the
consumers do not switch on their connected load to the system at a time.
The knowledge of maximum demand is very important as it helps in
determining the installed capacity of the station. The station must be
capable of meeting the maximum demand.
 Demand Factor
The ratio of the maximum demand on a system to the total load
connected to the system

𝑀𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝐷𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑
𝐷𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 =
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑

• Always less than unity (It is expected because maximum demand on the
power station is generally less than the connected load.)
• This is a convenient form for expressing the relationship between
connected load and demand
• Demand factor is important in determining the size of facilities to be
installed for a particular services. (the capacity of the plant equipment.)
 Average load
The average of loads occurring on the power station in a given period (day
or month or year) is known as average load or average demand.
 Load Factor
The ratio of the average load to the maximum demand during a certain
period of time such as a day, month or year
𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝐷𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑
𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 =
𝑀𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝐷𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑

• Always less than unity (average load is smaller than the maximum demand.)
• The load factor plays key role in determining the overall cost per unit
generated. Higher the load factor of the power station, lesser will be the
cost per unit generated
Load Factor
Example
• A consumer household has a maximum demand of 2 kW in the
evening when many of appliances in use. During the 24th period, the
energy consumed is 12 kWh.
Load Factor ?
Diversity Factor
The ratio of the sum of individual maximum demand of the consumers
supplied from a power station to the maximum demand of the power
station.
𝑆𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑀𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝐷𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑
𝐷𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 =
𝑀𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝐷𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

• Always less than unity (Maximum demand of all the consumers supplied by
a power station do not occur at the same time)
Loss Factor

𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑠
𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 =
𝑃𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑠
Ex

The maximum demand on a power station is 100 MW. If the annual load
factor is 40% , calculate the total energy generated in a year
Ex

The maximum demand on a power station is 100 MW. If the annual load
factor is 40% , calculate the total energy generated in a year
Ex

A diesel station supplies the following loads to various consumers :

Industrial consumer = 1500 kW ; Commercial establishment = 750 kW;
Domestic power = 100 kW; Domestic light = 450 kW

If the maximum demand on the station is 2500 kW and the number of

kWh generated per year is 45 × 105 , determine
(i) the diversity factor
(ii) annual load factor
 Consumer Classification

• About 25% of electricity in Sri Lanka is used for lighting

• The peak demand occurs mostly due to lighting
Lighting Loads
• Building Lighting
• Street Lighting
• Indicating Lighting
• Outdoor Lighting