Maharashtra Rural High Voltage Distribution System Expansion Program (RRP IND 50193-003)

HIGH VOLTAGE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS EXPERIENCE AND TECHNICAL STUDY

A. Introduction

1. Electricity generation continues to be largely centralized, based on where the

resources to produce electricity are available and conditions to build power plants are suitable.
Electricity so produced requires to be transmitted to locations where customers are
concentrated. Once transmitted to the general areas, electricity has to be distributed.
Electricity production at power plants is typically at voltages up to 15 kilovolt (kV). Long
distance transmission lines operate at voltages above 50 kV, because long distance
transmission should be done at lower currents to reduce energy losses in wires. Electricity
distribution to reach customers is typically at voltages below 50 kV. There is no universal
standard for voltages; for example, India and much of South Asia uses 33 kV, 11 kV and
400 volt (V) as distribution voltages. Thailand uses 22 kV and 380 V as distribution voltages.

2. Electricity supply to large customers such as industries is at distribution voltages of 33

kV or 11 kV, and such customers use a transformer to step down to a voltage suitable and
safe for their industrial equipment and for workers. Distribution lines should also provide
electricity to smaller customers including households, small industries, commercial and
agricultural customers. The supply voltage to such customers is 400 V (three-phase) and 230
V (single-phase). Therefore, electricity received by towns and villages at either 33 kV or 11
kV, is to be stepped down to the distribution voltage of 400 V. Smaller customers are densely
packed in cities, and in villages, they are thinly spread out. Customers have to be grouped
together, to supply electricity, because the need to step down the voltage to 400 V. The
question arises on how many customers should be in such clusters? Just one, a few, a few
dozens, or a few hundreds. For each cluster, there will be a step-down transformer. If there is
more than one customer, the transformer is shared among them, and there will be 400 V lines
drawn either along roadways or access roads, or from house to house.

B. Concept of HVDS

3. If the number of customers in a cluster is only one or a few, such a distribution

configuration may be described as a high voltage distribution system (HVDS). In the context
of India, the high voltage is either 11 kV or 33 kV. This means, the high voltage network is
widespread, reaching the doorstep of nearly all customers. Low voltage lines would be
shorter, adequate to reach each customer in the cluster. Figure 1 shows the configuration of
a network that has the features of HVDS.

4. In contrast, if the cluster has dozens or hundreds of customers served by the same
transformer, and if the area is rural, it is most likely that the distance between customers may
add up to a few kilometers. Therefore, such a distribution system has shorter high voltage
lines and longer low voltage lines. Such distribution systems may be described as low voltage
distribution systems (LVDS). See Figure 2 for a typical network configuration of LVDS.
Therefore, HVDS has longer high voltage lines, more transformers and shorter low voltage
lines. LVDS has shorter high voltage lines, lesser number of transformer and longer low
voltage lines.
2

Figure 1: A typical distribution network with features of HVDS

Note: Each distribution transformer serves a limited number of smaller customers; each bulk supply
transformer serves a single large customer.

Figure 2: A distribution network with features of LVDS

Note: Each distribution transformer serves a larger number of smaller customers; each bulk supply
transformer serves a single large customer.

5. In urban areas where customer density is high, the choice is typically LVDS, but with
shorter low voltage lines, limited to a few hundred meters. This is because the capacity of the
transformer would be fully used by customers within a radius of a few hundred meters. On the
other hand, there will be transformers once every few hundred meters, requiring high voltage
lines to be widespread, which is a feature of HVDS. Therefore, in urban areas, the distinction
between HVDS and LVDS diminishes. In suburban areas, where customer density is
moderate, typically HVDS is used by many utilities worldwide. Some use a combination of
HVDS and LVDS, designing the network to meet the changing pattern of customer location
and densities.
 3

6. In rural areas, customer density is always less. Mixed settlements have villages
intermixed with small industrial, commercial and agricultural activities. Small industry and
commercial activity are usually closer to the living areas, and the distribution network can
serve that in the same manner a household is served. In contrast, agriculture tends to cover
vast areas of land. Electricity demand for agriculture at the location is for water pumping.
Therefore, to serve water pumps in agricultural areas, LVDS typically requires longer low
voltage lines. However, owing to lower investments, LVDS is more widespread than HVDS,
to serve village areas as well as agricultural water pumping.

7. Typically, HVDS is more capital intensive than LVDS. This is because HVDS requires
longer high voltage lines and more transformers. Low voltage lines are cheaper to install;
LVDS requires a lesser number of transformers. Therefore, as electricity distribution networks
expanded in South Asia over the past 50 years, the tendency of electricity utility network
planners was to use a less capital-intensive distribution network, so that electricity service can
be provided to a larger number of customers with the limited capital budgets. However, owing
to population growth and the increase of commercial, industrial and agricultural activities, as
well as the need to increase the yield of existing farms, suburban and rural networks based
on LVDS were experiencing problems technically and commercially.

8. Technical problems of LVDS include (i) overloading of transformers and low voltage
lines, as demand increased; (ii) consequent reduction of voltage beyond the acceptable limits,
causing brownouts across the low voltage network; (iii) excessive energy losses in the low
voltage network as LV conductors are overloaded; (iv) poor quality of supply owing to the use
of bare low voltage conductors, exposed to weather and human activity, which causes
frequent trappings; and (iv) damage to customers’ electrical equipment caused by brownouts
and frequent outages. Due to limited funds of electricity utilities, growing customer demands
and, protection of transformers from the effects of overloading, many regions in South Asia
were neglected, causing transformer burnouts. If the current drawn of a transformer exceeds
its specified limits, after a while, the transformer winding burns out.

9. Commercial problems of LVDS are largely related to (i) absence of metering; (ii) meter
tampering; and (iii) electricity theft. In HVDS, the meter may be located on the distribution
pole, to minimize the possibility of meter tampering. Electricity theft is minimized since the low
voltage lines are shorter and specifically serving identified customers. Since low voltage lines
are shorter in HVDS, they can be insulated at extra cost, thus reducing the potential for theft
of electricity. Additionally in India, as electricity supply to water pumping for agriculture is free
or subsidized, supplied in the night time and often charged a flat capacity based tariff with
limited collection capacity and payment enforcement, customers tend to over-use electricity
supply beyond efficient quantities, causing commercial losses to electricity utilities.

10. Solutions to technical problems are clear; the distribution network must be
reconfigured and rebuilt to meet the growing needs, such that all customers receive the
electricity supply at the stated quality and at a high reliability. A well designed and built
distribution network will have the minimum possible technical loss. Transformers should be
protected with modern protection equipment, so that even if they are overloaded owing to
excessive customer demand, they will be automatically switched off before they are damaged.
Use of good construction and maintenance practices, maintenance of the right of way clear of
vegetation and the use of insulated conductors for low voltage, would reduce outage events.

11. Solutions to commercial problems are more complex. Metering is essential at the
transformer as well as at each customer premises, to ensure the supply of electricity is
monitored. Meter tampering can be minimized if the meter is not accessible to the customer,
for example if it is located on the pole. The use of digital meters is another solution, which
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records any attempt to tamper. Use of insulated conductors minimize the possibility of drawing
unauthorized service connections.

C. Feeder separation

12. The commercial problem of limiting subsidized electricity supplied to agriculture is even
more complex. Utilities have resorted to switching the lines at the substation at 11 kV level, to
control excessive use of electricity in agricultural areas. This practice unfairly impacts
households, commercial and industrial customers along the same 11 kV line, which too are
without power when the utility switches off the line to control electricity used by agricultural
customers. To address this issue, utilities have resorted to a distribution design concept known
as “feeder separation,” where the 11 kV line serving the agricultural areas and village
(household, commercial and industrial) areas are separated. In most situations, this involves
drawing a new 11 kV line from the substation to the village, while leaving the existing 11 kV
line to serve only agricultural customers. This practice improves the technical and commercial
performance of the “village feeder” but leaves the performance of the “agricultural feeder” as
it is, with technical and commercial losses, and power quality issues further aggravating.

D. Practice of HVDS in South Asia

13. Over the past 3 decades, distribution networks have been reconfigured in many states
in India, and elsewhere in South Asia. Some used the approach of completely replace the
ageing distribution networks with HVDS or its variants. Some utilities in India implemented
HVDS and feeder separation, to allow a higher quality of service to household, commercial
and industrial customers over a new, separate 11 kV line. Some countries such as
Bangladesh, used such opportunities to strengthen the already established practice of using
HVDS in rural areas.

(i) India: Madhya Pradesh HVDS and Feeders Separation

14. Since the distribution system of Madhya Pradesh had a high energy loss as well as a
lower reliability, it needed a significant investment to overcome these issues. The India
Madhya Pradesh Power Sector Investment Program funded by ADB, that commenced in
December 2006, supported the power sector of Madhya Pradesh to increase the overall
efficiency of the distribution system and reduce power losses. Madhya Pradesh Poorv Kshetra
Vidyut Company Limited (DISCOM-East) was assisted to implement the HVDS, install remote
metering systems and to install 11 kV and 33 kV vacuum circuit breakers to refurbish the
distribution protection system. These investment components helped enhance the voltage
profile, reduce transmission and distribution losses, reduce non-technical losses, reduce
distribution transformer failures, and improve revenue collection.

15. In 2011, ADB approved the second investment program, the Madhya Pradesh Energy
Efficiency Improvement Investment Program, in which all the three distribution utilities in
Madhya Pradesh would complete the feeder separation and HVDS in the entire state. This
investment program is due for completion in 2020. Subsequent sections of this assessment
covers the Madhya Pradesh Power Sector Investment Program that commenced in 2006,
which has now been completed.

16. At the appraisal stage of the project (March 2007), the available generating capacity
of the state of Madhya Pradesh was 6,822 MW. The peak demand met during 2006–2007
was 6,109 MW compared with an estimated unrestricted peak demand of 7,114 MW. Due to
this capacity shortage of about 1,005 MW there were brown outs, intentional voltage
reductions as well as load shedding. The distribution network had an energy loss of 37.72%
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in fiscal year (FY) 2008 and a bill collection rate of 92.52% in the same year. The conventional
agricultural feeder arrangement of the rural areas in Madhya Pradesh is shown in Figure 1. 1

Figure 3: Conventional arrangement of distribution feeders in rural areas in MP

Source: ADB. 2011. Report and Recommendation of the President to the Board of Directors: Proposed
Multitranche Financing Facility and Technical Assistance Grant to India for the Madhya Pradesh Energy Efficiency
Improvement Investment Program. Manila.

17. Each distribution substation (DS) has a distribution transformer that steps down the
voltage from 11 kV to 400 V. The capacity of the transformer is determined by the cumulative
capacity of pumps (P) and household customers (HH) connected to it. From the DS, several
low voltage distribution lines would be drawn, typically along roadways, to reach points closest
to the customer. Then a service drop, or a spur line would be drawn up to the exact customer
location. The LV distribution lines were typically 1.5 to 2 km long. Metering was done for
household customers but metering of agricultural customers was absent. This arrangement
causes higher losses along low voltage lines, and a poor voltage profile along the line.
Moreover, meter tampering and theft were widespread, since meters were located at ground
level.

18. During the implementation of the project, 10,248 transformers of 25 kVA and 5,327
transformers of 16 kVA were installed while converting 4,028 km of 400 V low voltage lines to
11 kV high voltage lines under the HVDS conversion program. Remote metering was
introduced for 10,598 existing customers who had a load greater than 10 horsepower (hp)
(≈7.5 kW). With the help of remote metering facility, the real time electricity consumption of
such consumers can be examined, and the DISCOM-East was able to reduce the non-
technical losses as well as the establishment costs of the network.

19. For the protection and switching functions, 960 vacuum circuit breakers (VCBs) at 11
kV and 320 VCBs at 33 kV were installed across 100 primary substations (33 kV/11 kV) in

1 ADB. 2011. Report and Recommendation of the President to the Board of Directors: Proposed Multitranche
Financing Facility and Technical Assistance Grant to India for the Madhya Pradesh Energy Efficiency
Improvement Investment Program. Manila. Feeder Separation and high voltage distribution systems.
6

Madhya Pradesh. 2 The indicative single line diagram of the HVDS system to serve rural areas
is shown in Figure 2 (footnote 1). In this example, household customers have been moved to
a HVDS, where each new distribution substation serves only a few customers.

Figure 4: HVDS arrangement to serve non-agricultural customer in Madhya

Pradesh

Source: ADB. 2011. Report and Recommendation of the President to the Board of Directors: Proposed
Multitranche Financing Facility and Technical Assistance Grant to India for the Madhya Pradesh Energy Efficiency
Improvement Investment Program. Manila.

20. After the implementation of HVDS network for non-agricultural customers and feeder
separation, total distribution losses reduced from 37.72% in FY2008 to 21.69% in FY2015. As
of 2014, the loss reduction was calculated to be 764 GWh/year due to conversion of Madhya
Pradesh distribution network to HVDS. The reliability of distribution network increased as well.
Before the project, rural areas received electricity only up to 10 hours per day, owing to feeder
switching by the utility to limit electricity supply to agriculture. The availability of a 11 kV feeder
to exclusively serve the village areas, facilitated a 24-hour supply to non-agricultural
customers. Interruptions and voltage fluctuations reduced. The remote metering program
implemented in the project increased bill collection from customers from 92.52% in FY2008 to
nearly 100% in FY2015. The remote metering program eliminated illegal connections and
meter tampering.

(ii) India: HVDS in agriculture in Punjab

21. Similar to most states in India, Punjab provides free electricity to farmers to encourage
agriculture. However, decreasing productivity of the agricultural system, degradation of soil
and depletion of water resources, resulted in high electricity consumption. This in turn caused
increased technical financial losses to the utility. In FY2013, the agricultural feeders had a
technical loss of 13.1% and the total transmission and distribution loss was 16.8%. To
overcome these issues and to improve the electricity infrastructure of the state, the Punjab
Development Finance Program was designed with funding from ADB and implemented by

2 ADB. 2016. Completion Report; Madhya Pradesh Power Sector Investment Program (Tranche 2). Manila.
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Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL). The objectives were to reduce the
transmission and distribution losses, improve the voltage profile and to reduce meter
tampering.

22. Unlike in Madhya Pradesh, the focus in Punjab was on improving the entire distribution
network, focusing on agricultural customers. PSPCL commenced converting 11 kV agricultural
feeders in areas with higher losses to HVDS in 2014. Conversion to HVDS was targeted to
increase the availability and performance of the agricultural pump sets as a result of the
11 kV distribution line being drawn to the point where the customer pumps are connected.
With the HVDS connection, the rate of failure of distribution transformers was expected to
reduce significantly. The reason for this was that the number of agricultural pumps would be
limited to 2 or 3 in a small capacity distribution transformer with HVDS connection. Previously,
there were a number of pumps connected to a single distribution transformer along low voltage
lines, which resulted in overloading the transformer and resulted in poor voltage profiles.

23. This project converted 628,494 out of 1.368 million agricultural connections into HVDS,
which is 45.9% of the total. Furthermore, 137,651 out of 649,000 distribution transformers of
the distribution transformers were metered on agricultural feeders thus covering 21.2% of all
transformers. Apart from that, 19.6% of agricultural power consumers (268,733 out of 1.368
million agricultural power consumers) were metered and attained 100% of end-to-end
metering of intended 86 agricultural feeders at the end of the project implementation period. 3

24. The conversion of the selected area in Punjab to HVDS resulted in reducing the
technical losses of agricultural feeders from 13.1% in FY2013 to 10.9% in FY2016. The
transmission and distribution losses of the system reduced from 16.8% in FY2013 to 14.6%
in FY2016. PSPCL decided to restrict power supply to agricultural consumers in agreement
with the normative supply hours requirements of the zone.

(iii) HVDS and Energy Efficient Agriculture Pump sets in Andhra Pradesh

25. High technical and commercial losses became a major issue in Andhra Pradesh, as in
many other states of India. These high losses caused insufficient financial wellbeing of the
state and diminished investments to upgrade the electricity network. As a result, Andhra
Pradesh experienced unscheduled load shedding, voltage fluctuations, and inconsistent
system frequency. The voltage drops along distribution feeders were very high, leading the
system to have higher technical losses as well as frequent failures in customer electrical
equipment and machinery. In 2006, the government of Andra Pradesh launched the
conversion of agricultural feeders to HVDS.

26. The capacity of distribution transformers used was between 63 kVA and 100 kVA, and
the technical and commercial loss was estimated to be 13.3% in FY2015. The agricultural
pumps in use had a significantly lower efficiency (30% or less) resulting in high energy losses
throughout the system. Oversized pumps caused large voltage fluctuations in the distribution
system. Moreover, lack of maintenance, incorrect installation and the use of high-friction piping
made the system more unstable and unreliable as well.

27. Conversion of agricultural supply to HVDS was carried out through this project, where
54% of the total agricultural network was upgraded to HVDS by year 2017. More energy
efficient pumps were introduced to the agricultural customer, such as 7 hp (≈5.22 kW) and
5 hp (≈3.73 kW), with free service and maintenance agreements for a period of 5 years. 4 By
FY2018, the technical and commercial losses decreased up to 12.3% from 13.3% in FY2015,

3 ADB: 2018. Punjab Development Finance Program (Tranche 2): Progress Report on Tranche Release. Manila.
4 IL&FS Academy of Applied Development. 2018. Analysis of Power Distribution and DSM: High Voltage
Distribution System (HVDS) and Energy Efficient Agriculture Pump Sets (EEPS) in Andhra Pradesh. New Delhi.
8

showing a reduction of 1.0%. Since more energy efficient pumps are being used with lower
energy consumption (30% less energy compared with older pumps), energy savings in water
pumping are expected to increase gradually.

(iv) HVDS in urban distribution in Sri Lanka

28. Lanka Electricity Company (LECO) was established in 1983 by the Government of Sri
Lanka as a state-owned company. The company was assigned with the task of upgrading the
then decaying electricity distribution networks owned by the local authorities (city councils,
municipal councils). The objectives of this initiative were to improve the quality and reliability
of the electricity supply, reduce technical and commercial losses, as well as introducing new
technology and work ethics.

29. LECO operates in the western coastal belt of Sri Lanka. LECO inherited an ageing
distribution network from city councils- networks that may be classified as LVDS. Low voltage
lines were long and transformers were badly overloaded. Over a period of about 10 years,
LECO completely replaced the LVDS with a network that has features of HVDS, as it was
subsequently defined in several states of India. The LECO distribution network can be
considered as a variant of the HVDS network practiced in India, since each LV distribution line
(400 V) starting from each distribution transformer (11 kV/400 V) has a shorter line length.
Each low voltage line from a distribution transformer to serve customers, is limited to about
0.5 km. In a traditional distribution network elsewhere in Sri Lanka, the low voltage distribution
line length would be a maximum of 1.8 km.

30. The main source of electricity supply to LECO is at 11 kV from Ceylon Electricity Board
(CEB) owned 33/11 kV Primary Substations (PSS). These PSSs are rated either at 10 mega
volt ampere (MVA) or 20 MVA, to supply power to LECO, with a total installed capacity of 470
MVA. LECO network is mostly aerial with scattered underground cables and designed as an
interconnected set of radial feeders. As of 2018, LECO had 1,022 km of 11 kV overhead line
and 68.9 km of 11 kV underground lines. The distribution network has 4,383 km of 400 V lines
to serve customers, off 4,289 substations (11 kV/400 V). 5 LECO served a total of 576,925
customers by end 2018.

31. Sales and losses of LECO are shown in Figure 5. Over a period of 10 years, when the
LVDS was replaced with HVDS, technical and commercial losses reduced from an estimated
18% to 10%. The loss reduction is the combined effect of superior technical design, higher
construction quality, improved metering and accounting. LECO continued to improve on
distribution planning, further network upgrades and close monitoring of energy sent out to
each distribution transformer. Any significant discrepancy between monthly customer sales
and energy sent out of each transformer is promptly investigated. Network losses of LECO
has since reduced gradually over the years. Currently, LECO reports a loss of 3.85% (2018).

5 Government of Sri Lanka, Lanka Electricity Company (Pvt) Ltd. 2019. Medium Voltage Development Plan 2019–
2028.
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Figure 5: Loss Reduction in Sri Lanka’s LECO network in early years of HVDS

450 20%
400 18%
Energy Sales (GWh)

System Losses (%)

350 16%
300 14%
12%
250
10%
200
8%
150 6%
100 4%
50 2%
0 0%
1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994
Year

Energy Sales System Losses

Sources: Data in LN 732-SRI: Project Completion Report, ADB, 1990, and LECO
Note: Loss reported by LECO for year 2018 was 3.85%.

(v) HVDS in Rural Networks in Bangladesh

32. Bangladesh’s rural distribution networks have been designed and built on the basis of
HVDS. Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB) supervises the rural cooperatives Palli
Bidyuth Shamithi (PBS) that build and operate the rural networks. There are about 75 PBSs
in Bangladesh. Longer 11 kV lines reach even remote clusters of households, and a few
distribution lines from the transformer, typically not longer than 500 m, serve households and
smaller commercial and industrial customers. BREB has also specified the use of single-
phase transformers, to supply one or two small customers.

33. PBSs collectively reported annual energy losses of 12.9% in their distribution network
in 2015, it is forecast to decrease to 10% by 2021, as the utilities consolidate their HVDS as
the network expands to reach 100% of households. The use higher voltages (11 kV) prevents
theft to a large extent; 100% metering ensures energy is metered and billed. In many
situations, the meter is fixed on the pole to minimize tampering. Electronic metering and
pre-paid metering are also offered.

E. Prospects for HVDS in Maharashtra: Technical assessment of Agricultural

feeders

34. Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) is considering

serving each new agricultural customer with a new 11 kV high voltage spur line via a 3-phase
pole-mounted transformer effectively located at the doorstep of the customer’s water pump.
The water pump is the only significant electricity user of a typical agricultural customer. The
new electricity meter will also be pole-mounted along with the transformer, to reduce
electricity, and a low voltage typical service line will directly serve the customer’s pump. One
such transformer is planned to serve up to a maximum of 2 customers.

35. A technical study was conducted to examine key attributes of the existing practice
(LVDS: 11 kV feeders, centrally located distribution transformers and long low voltage lines to
serve agricultural pumps) against the proposed HVDS to serve agricultural pumps. Based on
actual data provided by MSEDCL, the study was conducted on 4 feeders (11 kV) named
Karkatta, Sawalwadi, Jaitpur and Nimbole. Appendix 1 shows the details of each 11 kV feeder
studied. Since the number of new agricultural customers expected to have HVDS connections
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was not available for each feeder, an average of 42 new customers per feeder was assumed
in the calculations. Furthermore, the exact locations of the existing distribution transformers
and the agricultural pumps were not available. Hence, it was assumed that the distribution
transformers and pumps are equally distributed along the 11 kV feeders and the low voltage
service lines. Only the results of analyzing the Karkatta feeder are describe in this document.

(i) The existing practice: LVDS

36. The existing practice for Karkatta agricultural feeder, which is a typical LVDS, was
modelled in load flow analysis software and the total peak-time power loss was calculated to
be 64.62 kW, which is 5.98% of input power. The calculated voltage profile of this design is
shown in Figure 6. The 11 kV feeder voltage of this existing practice, shown in the figure,
shows voltages between 1 per unit (pu) 6 to 0.96 pu. The low voltage service lines shown
diagonally have a minimum voltage value of about 0.92 pu.

(ii) Connecting new pumps with 11 kV spur lines

37. In the 2nd scenario, new agricultural pumps were connected using 11 kV spur lines,
according to the information provided. Therefore, the new pump connections would resemble
an HVDS, while the existing pumps will continue to be served by the existing network that has
features of an LVDS. Load flow study results indicate a total power loss of 73.15 kW which is
5.98% of the input power of the system. The voltage profile of this scenario is shown in Figure
7. The voltage drop is significantly low when compared with the voltage drops along existing
LV service lines. The new spur lines have values to the 11 kV feeder voltage of between 1 pu
to 0.95 pu.

(iii) Connecting new pumps to existing practice

38. The 3rd scenario where the new pump connections are connected to the already
established practice in Karkatta region was modelled and the total power loss was calculated
using the load flow model, which is 82.2 kW, 6.72% of input power. The voltage profile of this
scenario is shown in Figure 8.

6 Per unit (pu) is a commonly used in electrical voltage and power calculations, pu = 1.0 implies the design
conditions, for example, when the supply voltage is 400 V while the nominal voltage specified is also 400 V, then
the voltage is stated to be 1.0 pu. For example, if the calculated voltage is 0.95 pu, that means there is a voltage
drop of 5% along the distribution line.
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Figure 6. Calculated Voltage profile of the existing Karkatta Feeder

Source: TA consultants’ calculations

Figure 7. Voltage profile when connecting new pumps using HVDS in Karkatta Feeder

Source: TA consultants’ calculations

Note: The section of the voltage profile related to new spur lines are circled in green.
12

Figure 8. Voltage profile when connecting new pumps to the existing LVDS

Source: TA consultants’ calculations

39. The voltage of the 11 kV feeder after connecting the new connections slightly reduces
to 0.95 pu at the end. Further, the minimum voltage of the low voltage service line reduces to
around 0.9 pu.

(iv) Converting all connections to HVDS

40. In the final scenario, all pumps including old and new (361 pumps in total) were
connected to a new HVDS and a load flow study was conducted to calculate the losses of the
system. It was assumed that the spur lines are equally distributed along the 11 kV feeder and
that there are at least four 10 kVA pole-mounted distribution transformers connected to a
single spur line in an equally distributed manner. Since the average load of a pump is around
3.4 kW, a maximum 2 pumps were connected to each 10 kVA transformer to prevent them
from overloading.

41. The total loss of the system was calculated to be 42.4 kW, 3.54% of the input. The
voltage profile after converting all the pumps to HVDS is shown in Figure 9. In Figure 9, it is
difficult to observe each transformer and low voltage service line voltage profiles, as there are
361 pumps (319 old and 42 new) connected to the distribution system. The 11 kV feeder with
spur lines including pole-mounted transformers operate above 0.95 pu. Therefore, this voltage
profile is noticeably higher when compared with the other scenarios simulated for Karkatta
feeder. All customers receive electricity supply within 5% of the nominal voltage, thereby
improving power quality.
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Figure 9. Voltage profile after replacing all pumps to HVDS in Karkatta Feeder

Source: TA consultants’ calculations

(v) Summary results

42. The percentage power losses among the four scenarios for the four agricultural
feeders are summarized in Table 1. Peak time power losses show a significant reduction only
in the 4th scenario; converting all agricultural pumps to HVDS. When all the connections are
converted to HVDS, the voltage profiles of all feeders improve significantly. Even the highest
percentage loss among the four feeders, when all the connections are converted to HVDS, is
less than 7%. The reason for the higher percentage loss of 6.92% in the Jaitpur feeder in the
4th scenario when compared with other feeders, is mainly because the capacity of agricultural
pumps used in this feeder is higher than the rest (i.e. 9.27 hp). Furthermore, Jaitpur feeder is
the longest out of the four feeders, with a length of 22 km. The study also modelled one feeder,
to check the impacts of power factor, and the results are shown in Table 2. Lower power factor
causes the power losses to increase. The typical power factor of a correctly loaded pump-
motor is about 0.85, thus the expected power loss of the feeder, is expected to increase from
2.32% to 3.11%.

Table 1. Comparison of total peak time percentage losses among different case
studies
Total percentage power loss (%)
Scenario 2: Scenario 3: Scenario 4:
Case Study Scenario 1: Connecting new Connecting new Converting all
Current Baseline pumps with new pumps to existing connections to
11 kV spur lines LV lines HVDS
Karkatta
5.98% 5.98% 6.72% 3.54%
Agricultural Feeder
Jaitpur Agricultural
16.43% 15.94% 18.61% 6.92%
Feeder
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Nimbole
10.78% 10.43% 12.76% 2.32%
Agricultural Feeder
Sawalwadi
13.35% 12.37% 14.94% 2.16%
Agricultural Feeder

Table 2. Comparison of the Impact of Power Factor

Nimbole Feeder (Converting all connections to HVDS)

Power factor of Total Percentage Power Loss (%)
water pump-motor in Scenario 4
Unity (1) 2.32
0.85 3.11
0.65 2.58

43. Therefore, it can be concluded that converting all the existing and new connections to
HVDS in each agricultural feeder will make the percentage loss significantly lower and will
provide a significantly improved voltage profile throughout the feeder. The reduction in
technical losses is estimated to be about 10% (peak power loss). Furthermore, the power
factor of agricultural pumps must be maintained closer to unity to have an optimum power loss
reduction from the HVDS conversion. The next best scenario would be connecting the new
pump connections with 11 kV spur lines to the existing network, to minimize the power loss.
This supports a lower reduction in the total power loss of the feeders. Given the capital
intensive nature of the proposed HVDS program for new connections and its ability to
demonstrate improved metering and billing, better voltage and other benefits for HVDS
agricultural customers and MSEDCL, this would be a useful starting point to help establish the
case for stakeholders including the state government and the regulator for the design and
roll-out of a larger scale HVDS program for existing agricultural customers in the state.

44. The above study models the impact on technical loss reduction in various scenarios.
Comprehensively addressing both technical and commercial losses under Scenario 4 would
require significant capital expenditure for all connections to be moved to HVDS. The benefits
of this would be evaluated under the design of the proposed HVDS pilot. Scenario 2 covering
new customers (the program) is better than Scenario 3 (business as usual). The introduction
of 100% metering for HVDS customers under the program with the capacity of meters to
record and store 45 days of consumption data for analysis, the adoption of a usage-based
tariff to encourage efficient consumption and an improved ability to identify and tag specific
customers linked to a specific distribution transformer would facilitate better assessments of
agricultural consumption, provide reliable power supply and support initiatives to improve
collection capacity for MSEDCL.

(vi) Study limitations

45. Study results have the following limitations and assumptions: (i) the exact locations of
the distribution transformers throughout the 11 kV feeders were not available. Therefore, it
was assumed that the distribution transformers are equally distributed along the 11 kV
feeders; (ii) the existing agricultural pumps were assumed to be equally distributed along the
low voltage service lines; (iii) average length of an existing low voltage service line was
assumed to be 1.5 km since the exact lengths were not provided; (iv) the efficiency of the
agricultural pumps was not considered when designing the equivalent loads for representation
in load flow studies. The average number of new agricultural customers per feeder was
assumed to be 42; (v) since only the average lengths of new 11 kV spur lines and low voltage
service lines were available, those lengths were used to connect all the new pole mounted
transformers and agricultural pumps; and (vi) a maximum of two pumps were connected to
each 10 kVA pole mounted transformers to prevent them from overloading and they were
connected to the feeders in an equally distributed manner.
 Appendix 15

Information on the four 11 kV feeders for proposed HVDS connections included in case
studies

Information required Sawalwadi Karkatta Jaitpur Nimbole

Origin: 33/11 kV substation
2 (1x10 MVA + 1x5
Number of Transformers & 1 (1x5 MVA) 2 (2x5 MVA) 1 (1x5 MVA)
MVA)
1 their capacity
Whether all transformers are End point
Yes Yes Yes
connected in parallel transformer
Total length of the selected
2 4.5 km 18 km 22 km 6 km
11 kV feeder
Conductor material and
3 conductor size of the 11 kV ACSR (34 mm2) ACSR (50 mm2) ACSR O3 (55 mm2) ACSR (55 mm2)
Feeder
Total number of distribution 48 comprising 43 comprising
42 comprising
transformers served by this 25 comprising (16x100 kVA + (25x100 kVA +
4 (20x100 kVA +
feeder & their capacity (25x100 kVA) 24x63 kVA + 8x25 17x63 kVA + 1x25
22x63 kVA)
kVA) kVA)
Total number of agricultural
customers already served
5 389 319 277 672
by this feeder (through
distribution transformers)
Average capacity of an
6 5.01 hp 4.61 hp 9.27 hp 4.22 hp
agricultural pump
Conductor material of LV
7 ACSR (30 mm2) ACSR (80 mm2) AAAC (34 mm2) AAC (35 mm2)
Distribution Feeders
Average number of
8 operation hours of an 6 – 8 hours of daily supply
agricultural pump
Total number of non –
9 agricultural customers 15 - - 361
served by the 11 kV feeder
Average length of proposed
10 400 m
11 kV spur lines
Average length of LV
11 service line for new 20 m
applicants
12 Total Agricultural Load 1950 hp 1473 hp 2568 hp 2839 hp