Shihab Al Rashid

EEE-03

Structure of Electric Power System

The function of an electric power system is to connect the power station to the consumers’ loads
by means of interconnected system of transmission and distribution networks.

Therefore, an electric power system consists of three principal components-

1. The power stations (Generation station)

2. Transmission lines
3. The distribution systems

The power stations: This is where electricity is produced.

• Types of Power Plants:

➢ Thermal: Coal, oil, or gas is burned.

➢ Hydroelectric: Water from dams spins turbines.
➢ Nuclear: Uranium fission releases heat.
➢ Renewables: Solar, wind, etc.
• Output: High voltage AC (like 11kV to 25kV), then stepped up for transmission.

Transmission lines: This carries electricity over long distances from the power plant to cities or
towns.

• Voltage is stepped up (e.g., to 220kV, 400kV) to reduce losses.

• Transmitted through high-voltage lines.

• Components:

➢ Transmission lines
➢ Substations
➢ Circuit breakers
➢ Protective devices
• Ends at grid substations, where voltage is reduced for distribution.

Distribution Systems: This sends power from substations to the end users (houses, shops,
factories).

• Voltage is stepped down to 11kV → then 230V/400V for homes/offices.

• Components:

➢ Distribution transformers
➢ Poles and wires
➢ Meters, fuses, switches
Structure of Electric Power System

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.
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 on power station

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. 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.
II. Increase in production cost: The variable load on the plant increases the cost of the pro
duction of electrical energy. 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 Curves
The curve showing the variation of load on the power station with respect to (w.r.t) time is known
as a load curve.

Purpose of a Load Curve:

• To know when electricity demand is high or low

• To plan how much power the station should generate at different times

• Helps in improving efficiency and reducing cost

Types of Load Curves:

1. Daily Load Curve

• Shows how load changes in 24 hours

• The load on a power station is never constant; it varies from time to time. These
load variations during the whole day (i.e., 24 hours) are recorded half-hourly or
hourly and are plotted against time on the graph. The curve thus obtained is known
as daily load curve as it shows the variations of load w.r.t. time during the day
• Example: Load is high in the evening, low at midnight
2. Monthly Load Curve

• The monthly load curve can be obtained from the average of the daily load curves
of that month.

3. Yearly Load Curve

• The yearly load curve is obtained by considering the monthly load curves of that
particular year.

The fig. shows a typical daily load curve of a power station.

Importance of load curve:
The daily load curves have attained a great importance in generation:

1. The daily load curve shows the variations of load on the power station during different
hours of the day.
2. The area under the daily load curve gives the number of units generated in the day. Units
generated/day = Area (in kWh) under daily load curve.
3. The highest point on the daily load curve represents the maximum demand on the station
on that day.
4. Important for average load calculation.
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 (𝑖𝑛 𝑘𝑊ℎ)𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑒
Average load =
24 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠

5. Important for load factor calculation.

𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 (𝑖𝑛 𝑘𝑊ℎ) 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑒
Load factor =
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑
6. The load curve helps in selecting* the size and number of generating units.
7. The load curve helps in preparing the operation schedule** of the station.

Average load: The average load is defined as the ratio of area under the daily load curve to the
total number of hours.
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 (𝑖𝑛 𝑘𝑊ℎ)𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑒
Average load =
24 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠

Load factor: The load factor is defined as the ratio of the area under the load curve to the total
area of rectangle in which the load curve is contained.
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 (𝑖𝑛 𝑘𝑊ℎ) 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑒
Load factor =
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑
Important Terms and Factors
The variable load problem has introduced the following terms and factors in power plant
engineering:

1. Connected load: It is the sum of continuous ratings of all the equipments connected to
supply system.
2. Maximum demand: It is the greatest demand of load on the power station during a given
period.
3. Demand factor: It is the ratio of maximum demand on the power station to its connected
load i.e.,
Maximum demand
Demand factor =
Connected load

4. 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.
5. Load factor: The ratio of average load to the maximum demand during a given period is
known as load factor
6. Diversity factor: The ratio of the sum of individual maximum demands to the maximum
demand on power station is known as diversity factor i.e.,

Sum of individual max.demands

Diversity factor =
Max.demand on power station

7. Plant capacity factor: It is the ratio of actual energy produced to the maximum possible
energy that could have been produced during a given period i.e.,

Reserve capacity = Plant capacity − Max. demand

8. Plant use factor: It is ratio of kWh generated to the product of plant capacity and the
number of hours for which the plant was in operation i.e.
Station output in kWh
Plant use factor =
Plant capacity Hoursofuse
Units Generated per Annum

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.

The load duration curve is obtained from the same data as the load curve but the ordinates are
arranged in the order of descending magnitudes. In other words, the maximum load is represented
to the left and decreasing loads are represented to the right in the descending order. Hence the area
under the load duration curve and the area under the load curve are equal. Fig. (i) shows the daily
load curve. The daily load duration curve can be readily obtained from it.

It is clear from daily load curve [See Fig.(i)], that load elements in order of descending magnitude
are: 20 MW for 8 hours; 15 MW for 4 hours and 5 MW for 12 hours. Plotting these loads in order
of descending magnitude, we get the daily load duration curve as shown in Fig.(ii).
The following points may be noted about load duration curve:

1. The load duration curve gives the data in a more presentable form.
2. The area under the load duration curve is equal to that of the corresponding load curve.
3. The load duration curve can be extended to include any period of time.
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:

1. Domestic load: Domestic load consists of lights, fans, refrigerators, heaters, television,
small motors for pumping water etc.
2. Commercial load: Commercial load consists of lighting for shops, fans and electric
appliances used in restaurants etc.
3. Industrial load: Industrial load consists of load demand by industries. The magnitude of
industrial load depends upon the type of industry.
4. Municipal load: Municipal load consists of street lighting, power required for water
supply and drainage purposes.
5. 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.
6. Traction load: This type of load includes tram cars, trolley buses, railways etc. This class
of load has wide variation.

Typical Demand and Diversity Factors

The demand factor and diversity factor depend on the type of load and its magnitude.

Typical Demand: This refers to the general pattern of power usage by different types of
consumers.

Diversity Factor: This is a very important economic concept in power system design.

• Always greater than 1

• Because not all devices or users draw maximum power at the same time
Load Curves and Selection of Generating Units
The load on a power station is seldom constant; it varies from time to time. Obviously, a single
generating unit (i.e., alternator) will not be an economical proposition to meet this varying
load. It is because a single unit will have very poor* efficiency during the periods of light loads
on the power station. Therefore, in actual practice, a number of generating units of different
sizes are installed in a power station. The selection of the number and sizes of the units is
decided from the annual load curve of the station. The number and size of the units are selected
in such a way that they correctly fit the station load curve. Once this underlying principle is
adhered to, it becomes possible to operate the generating units at or near the point of maximum
efficiency.
 Important Points in the Selection of Units
While making the selection of number and sizes of the generating units, the following points
should be kept in view:

1. The number and sizes of the units should be so selected that they approximately fit the
annual load curve of the station.
2. The units should be preferably of different capacities to meet the load requirements. Al
though use of identical units (i.e., having same capacity) ensures saving* in cost, they
often do not meet the load requirement.
3. The capacity of the plant should be made 15% to 20% more than the maximum demand
to meet the future load requirements.
4. There should be a spare generating unit so that repairs and overhauling of the working
units can be carried out.
5. The tendency to select a large number of units of smaller capacity in order to fit the
load curve very accurately should be avoided. It is because the investment cost per kW
of capacity increases as the size of the units decreases.

Base Load and Peak Load on Power Station

Method of Meeting the Load
The total load on a power station consists of two parts viz., base load and peak load. In order to
achieve overall economy, the best method to meet load is to interconnect two different power
stations. The more efficient plant is used to supply the base load and is known as base load power
station. The less efficient plant is used to supply the peak loads and is known as peak load power
station. There is no hard and fast rule for selection of base load and peak load stations as it would
depend upon the particular situation. For example, both hydro-electric and steam power stations
are quite efficient and can be used as base load as well as peak load station to meet a particular
load requirement.

Interconnected Grid System

The connection of several generating stations in parallel is known as interconnected grid system.

The various problems facing the power engineers are considerably reduced by interconnecting
different power stations in parallel.

Some of the advantages of interconnected system are listed below:

1. Exchange of peak loads: An important advantage of interconnected system is that the peak
load of the power station can be exchanged.
2. Use of older plants: The interconnected system makes it possible to use the older and less
efficient plants to carry peak loads of short durations.
3. Ensures economical operation: The interconnected system makes the operation of
concerned power stations quite economical.
4. Increases diversity factor: The diversity factor of the system is improved, thereby
increasing the effective capacity of the system.
5. Reduces plant reserve capacity: When several power stations are connected in parallel,
the reserve capacity of the system is much reduced. This increases the efficiency of the
system.
6. Increases reliability of supply: The interconnected system increases the reliability of
supply.