Variable Load

LECTURE 2
TOPIC OUTLINE

• Power Distribution
• Basic Loads and Peak Loads
• Load Curves
• Variable Load Factors
• Tariff
• Electricity in the Philippines
Economic Aspects in Power Generation
Introduction

➢ The function of a power station is to deliver power to a large number of consumers. The power
station is constructed, commissioned and operated to supply required power to consumers with
generators running at rated capacity for maximum efficiency.

➢ The fundamental problem in generation, transmission and distribution of electrical energy is the fact
that electrical energy cannot be stored. It must be generated (supply) and consumed (demand)
when needed.

➢ The power demanded by the consumers is supplied by the power station through the transmission
and distribution networks. As the consumers’ load demand changes, the power supply by the power
station changes accordingly.
3 Phase AC
Power Generation in the Philippines
 Electricity
Grid Schema
 Base Loads and Peak Loads
Base load is the minimum level of electricity demand required over a period of 24 hours. It is needed
to provide power to components that keep running at all times (also referred as continuous load).

Peak load is the time of high demand. These peaking demands are often for only shorter durations. In
mathematical terms, peak demand could be understood as the difference between the base demand
and the highest demand.

Examples of household loads: microwave oven, toaster and television are examples of peak
demand, whereas refrigerator and HVAC systems are examples of base demand.

This constant power, which is required at all times, is called the base loading. But during a special
events, the demand will be more. This short, high demand period is considered to be a peak loading.
 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.

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 :

1. Need of additional equipment

2. Increase in production cost
 Load Curves
The curve showing the variation of load on the power station with respect to time is
known as a load curve.

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.
 Load Curves
The monthly load curve can be obtained from the daily load curves of that month. For this
purpose, average values of power over a month at different times of the day are calculated and then plotted
on the graph.

Types of Load Curves:

A. Residential Load Curve
B. Industrial Load Curve
C. Commercial Load Curve
 Importance of Load Curves
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. The area under the daily load curve divided by the number of hours gives the average load on the station
on that day.

𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑖𝑛 𝑘𝑊ℎ 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑒

𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 =
24 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠

Note: One may use Trapezoidal Rule

or Integration to find the area
under the curve.
 Importance of Load Curves
1. The ratio of the area under the load curve to the total area of rectangle in which it is contained gives
the load factor.

2. The load curve helps in selecting the size and

number of generating units.

3. The load curve helps in preparing the operation

schedule of the station.
 Important Terms and Factors
Connected load is the sum of continuous ratings of the load consuming apparatus
connected to the system.

Cold Reserve is that reserve generating capacity which is available for the service
but not in the operations.

Hot Reserve is that reserve generating capacity which is operation but not in service.

Spinning Reserve is that generating capacity which is connected to the grid and
ready to take load.

Firm Power is the power intended to be always available (even under

emergency conditions).
 Important Terms and Factors
Maximum Demand: It is the greatest demand of load on the power
station during a given period.

• In the Load Curve example, the maximum demand on the power

station during the day is 6 MW and it occurs at 6 P.M.

• 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 Maximum Demand
helps in determining the
installed capacity of the station.
 Important Terms and Factors
Demand Factor: It is the ratio of maximum demand on the power station to its
connected load.
𝑀𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝐷𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑
𝐷𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 =
𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑

The value of demand factor is usually less than 1.

If the maximum demand on the power station is 80 MW and the connected

load is 100 MW, then demand factor = 80/100 = 0.8.

The knowledge of demand factor is vital in determining the capacity of the

plant equipment.
 Important Terms and Factors
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.
𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑙
𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 =
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑙
 Important Terms and Factors
Diversity factor: The ratio of the sum of individual maximum demands to the maximum
demand on power station is known as diversity factor.

A power station supplies load to various types of consumers whose maximum demands
generally do not occur at the same time.

Therefore, the maximum demand on the power station is always less than the sum of individual
maximum demands of the consumers.

Obviously, diversity factor will always be greater than 1.

The greater the diversity factor, the lesser is the cost of generation of power.
 Important Terms and Factors
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.

Thus if the considered period is one year,

The plant capacity factor is an indication of the reserve capacity of the plant. A power station
is so designed that it has some reserve capacity for meeting the increased load demand in
future.
Therefore, the installed capacity of the plant is always somewhat greater than the maximum
demand on the plant.
 Important Terms and Factors
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

Suppose a plant having installed capacity of 20 MW produces annual output of 7.35 × 106 kWh and remains in
operation for 2190 hours in a year. Then,

Reserve Factor: It is ratio of the plant capacity to the maximum load.

𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟
𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 = =
𝑀𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝐶𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟

Reserve Overpeak: It is the excess load from the plant capacity to meet maximum demand.
𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒 𝐶𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 = 𝑀𝑎𝑥. 𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑 − 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝐶𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦
 Important Terms and Factors
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.
Example 1:
A proposed station has the following daily load cycle

(a)Draw the load curve and solve for (b)average load and (b)load factor
from the curve.
Solution:
Units generated per day = Area (in kWh) under the load curve
= 103[20 × 8 + 40 × 3 + 50 × 5 + 35 × 3 + 70 × 3 + 40 × 2]
= 103 [160 + 120 + 250 + 105 + 210 + 80] kWh
= 925 × 103 kWh

Average load = 925 × 103/24

= 38541.7 kW

Load factor = 38541.7/70 x 103

= 0.55
 Example 2
A power station supplies the following loads to the consumers.

Estimate the ff:

a) Load Factor
b) Load Factor for a 30MW stand-by
Power Plant in excess of 70MW
c)Use Factor of the Stand-by unit
Solution:
𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑦
a) 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 = 𝑘𝑊 𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 ×24 ℎ𝑟
= 𝑀𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝐷𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑎𝑦

Where:
𝐴𝑣𝑒. 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑
30𝑀𝑊 × 6ℎ𝑟 + 70𝑀𝑊 × 4ℎ𝑟 + 90𝑀𝑊 × 2ℎ𝑟 + 60𝑀𝑊 × 4ℎ𝑟 + 100𝑀𝑊 × 4ℎ𝑟 + 80𝑀𝑊 × 2ℎ𝑟 + 60𝑀𝑊 × 2ℎ𝑟
=
24ℎ𝑟
1560 𝑀𝑊 − ℎ𝑟
𝐴𝑣𝑒. 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 =
24ℎ𝑟
𝐴𝑣𝑒. 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 = 65 𝑀𝑊

65 𝑀𝑊
𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 = = 0.65
100 𝑀𝑊

b) Load factor for a 30MW standby Power Plant in excess of 70MW

20𝑀𝑊 × 2ℎ𝑟 + 30𝑀𝑊 × 4ℎ𝑟 + 10𝑀𝑊 × 2ℎ𝑟

𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑏𝑦 = = 0.75
30𝑀𝑊 × 8ℎ𝑟
Example 3
The peak load on a power plant is 60MW. The loads having the maximum demands of 30MW, 20MW,
10MW, and 14MW are connected to the plant. The capacity of the power plant is 80MW and the annual
load factor is 0.5.

Estimate:
a) Average Load
b) Energy Supplied per year
c) Demand Factor
d) Diversity Factor
Given:
Plant Capacity = 80MW
Peak Load = 60MW
Individual Capacity = 30MW, 20MW, 10MW, 14MW
Load of the substation

Solution:
𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑
a) 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 = = = 0.50
𝑃𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑

𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 = 0.5 × 60𝑀𝑊

𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 = 30𝑀𝑊
b) Energy Generated per year = Average Load × 8,760 hr/yr

ℎ𝑟
𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 = 30𝑀𝑊 × 8,760 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟

𝑀𝑊 − ℎ𝑟
𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 = 262,800
𝑦𝑟

𝑀𝑎𝑥 𝐷𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑
c) 𝐷𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 = 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝐷𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑

60 𝑀𝑊
𝐷𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 = = 0.813
30𝑀𝑊 + 20𝑀𝑊 + 10𝑀𝑊 + 14𝑀𝑊

𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑀𝑎𝑥 𝐷𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑

d) 𝐷𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 = 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑆𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝐷𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑

30𝑀𝑊 + 20𝑀𝑊 + 10𝑀𝑊 + 14𝑀𝑊

𝐷𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 = = 1.23
60𝑀𝑊
The rate at which electrical energy is supplied to a consumer is known as tariff.

Although tariff should include the total cost of producing and supplying electrical energy plus the
profit, consideration has to be given to different types of consumers (e.g., industrial, domestic and
commercial) while fixing the tariff.

Please open the url below

for the detailed discussion
of your Meralco bill.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di08h6bObyw

https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=di08h6bObyw
Tariff
Objectives of tariff:
Like other commodities, electrical energy is also sold at such a rate so that it not
only returns the cost but also earns reasonable profit. Therefore, a tariff should
include the following items :

(i) Recovery of cost of producing electrical energy at the power station.

(ii) Recovery of cost on the capital investment in transmission and distribution
systems.
(iii) Recovery of cost of operation and maintenance of supply of electrical
energy e.g., metering equipment, billing etc.
(iv) A suitable profit on the capital investment.
 Tariff
• The electrical energy produced by a power station is
delivered to a large number of consumers.
• The consumers can be persuaded to use electrical energy
if it is sold at reasonable rates.
 Tariff
Factors Affecting Electricity Tariff:
•Types of Load – The load is mainly classified into three types, i.e., domestic, commercial, or
industrial. The tariff of the electric energy varies according to their requirement.
•Maximum demand – The cost of the electrical energy supplied by a generating station depends on
the installed capacity of the plant and kWh generated. Increased in maximum capacity, increased the
installed capacity of the generating station.
•The time at which load is required – If the maximum demand coincides with the maximum
demand of the consumer, then the additional plant is required. And if the maximum demand of the
consumers occurs during off-peak hours, the load factor is improved, and no extra plant capacity is
needed. Thus, the overall cost per kWh generated is reduced.

•The power factor of the load – The power Power Factor – ratio of
factor plays a major role in the plant Working power (kW) to
economics. The low power factor increases the Apparent Power (kVA)
load current which increases the losses in the
system. Thus, the regulation becomes poor.
For improving the power factor, the power
factor correction equipment is installed at the
generating station. Thus, the cost of the
generation increases.