Power Transmission, Distribution and

Utilization
Lecture# 2: Characteristic features of
power systems
Dr. Hadeed Ahmed Sher
Assistant Professor, EED
KFUEIT, Pakistan

Slide credits
Slide # 6 is taken from Modern power
system by D P Kotari 3rd edition

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Contents
Connected load
Load curve
Demand
Maximum Demand
Demand Factor

Diversity factor
Plant capacity factor
Plant use factor
Tariff

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Connected Load
Sum of the rating of the electrical devices
connected at a premises.
=5*50W CFL = 250W

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Load Curve
Storage of bulk electricity is not economical.
Power demand is not in the control of utility.
Load curve provides information about
Load variation across the whole day
Base load The steady component of load curve
Varying component The dynamic component that varies
with season, festivals, time of day etc.
Randomly varying component - relatively small amplitude.

Energy consumption in kWh during a specific period.

Peak load required
Average load of the system
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Load curve
Two important
parameters are
Peak load
Important to determine
the plant capacity for
meeting the load.

Load factor
=average load/peak load
Always less than 1
A high load factor helps in
drawing more energy from
a generating station.
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Demand
Maximum Demand : It is the sum of electrical
load that a user switch on at any given time.
Suppose that a user has 5 lights each of 50 W.
He turn 4 out of 5 at 7 PM.
Then his maximum demand will be 200 W.
Demand Factor | The load connected is not
always connected to the power system hence,
= Maximum demand/Connected load
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Diversity Factor
Maximum demand of the consumers do not occur at the
same time.
Maximum demand is always less than the total electrical
load connected.
= Sum of individual maximum demand/Simultaneous maximum demand
Always greater than unity
Suppose there are 4 consumers with same maximum
demand. Each consumer may have his own load curve and
maximum demand timings. So there is a diversity of load
occurrence.
Because the total maximum demand at any time is less
than the sum of maximum demands, because of the
diversity the total load factor improves which is desirable.
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Plant capacity factor

=Actual energy produced/Maximum energy
that can be produced
=Average demand/installed capacity
Important factor for future expansions on
power plant.

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Plant use factor

=Actual energy produced /(plant capacity *
time plant has been in operation)

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Tariff
Usually the cost formula is
=a+b*kW+c*kWh

Where
a=fixed charge
b= maximum demand on the system
c=depends on the units produced and hence on fuel
charges and staff wages etc

Tariffs are used to

Influence the load curve
Improve the load factor
They can be used to panelize the consumer with low pf.
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Significance of LF and DF
Higher the value of load factor and diversity
factor, lower will be the overall cost per unit
generated
Higher Load factor means greater average load
This results in more number of units generated for a
given maximum demand
Therefore, standing charges which are proportional to
maximum no of generated units can be distributed
over a larger number of units supplied.
Hence, overall cost per unit of electrical energy
generated is reduced.
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Significance of LF and DF
With a given number of consumers the higher
the diversity factor of their loads, smaller will
be capacity of the plant required.
Therefore, the fixed charges due to capital
investment will be reduced.

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Assignment # 2
List the different kinds of electrical loads
Enlist the tariff details of these loads in
Pakistan

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