11/6/2015

Power Economics and Management

2nd Semester, 3rd Year (13EL)

B.E Electrical Engg. Program

Nayyar Hussain Power Plant Rating & Economic Selection

Assistant Professor
of No. Units in Power Station
Lecture No. 21
Department of Electrical Engineering
Mehran University of Engg. & Technology,
Jamshoro

Economic Selection of No. Units in

Power Plant Rating
Power Station
 Load on Power System is not Constant Owing to
Decision Depends on Variable Demand
 Load/Load Duration Curve  The minimum Capacity of the generating plant should
 Base Load, and
such that it can sufficiently meet the maximum
demand.
 Peak Load
 The minimum No. Of units chose could be one.
 Owing to Low Load Factor i.e. Less than 100%, the
generating unit shall be running less then its
maximum capacity.
 In this situation fuel cost shall be greater and it is
uneconomical to run Generator in low load conditions.

1
 11/6/2015

Economic Selection of No. Units in Economic Selection of No. Units in

Power Station Power Station
 The alternative way of deciding the size and generating
Meanwhile, it is also important to maintain reliability and
units in a station is to choose the no. Of units to fit the

Continuity of Supply all the times.
load curve as closely as possible.
And in case of Maximum Demands, and for low reliability
These units shall work on suitable portions of the load


reason, the failure of one unit may lead to complete black
curve in such a way that each will operate on about full
out. load, or the load at which it can give maximum efficiency.
It is, therefore, essential to install another generating unit
This would require reserve capacity unit of much smaller


when the first unit is out of order for major repair, etc. size as compared to previous case.
So, the capital cost shall be for two sets, each of capacity
Conclusion: There has to be a compromise between


corresponding to maximum load on the station.
selection of size and no. Of units in a station as well as
 As such, use of single unit in generating station for the avoiding both the extremes discussed above.
reason of maximum demand and reliability is not
 The aim should be smaller units to fit the load curve
practical.
avoiding excessive unit or a single unit approach

Economic Selection of No. Units in Economic Selection of No. Units in

Power Station Power 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.
 Illustration. The principle of selection of number and sizes
of generating units with the help of load curve is illustrated
in Fig. on next slides.
 In Fig. 3.11 (i), the annual load curve of the station is
shown. It is clear form the curve that load on the station has As discussed earlier, the total plant capacity is divided into
wide variations ; the minimum load being somewhat near 50 several generating units of different sizes to fit the load curve.
kW and maximum load reaching the value of 500 kW. It This is illustrated in Fig. 3.11(ii) where the plant capacity is
hardly needs any mention that use of a single unit to meet divided into three units numbered as 1, 2 and 3. The cyan
this varying load will be highly uneconomical. colour outline shows the units capacity being used.

2

Economic Selection of No. Units in
Power Station
The three units employed have different capacities and are
used according to the demand on the station. In this case, the
operating schedule can be as under :
Thus by selecting the proper number and sizes of units, the
generating units can be made to operate near maximum
efficiency. This results in the overall reduction in the cost of
production of electrical energy
Economic Selection of No. Units in
Power Station
11/6/2015
Economic Selection of No. Units in
Power Station
Important Points in the Selection of Units:
 The number and sizes of the units should be so selected that they
approximately fit the annual load curve of the station.
 The units should be preferably of different capacities to meet the load
requirements. Although use of identical units (i.e., having same
capacity) ensures saving* in cost, they often do not meet the load
requirement.
 The capacity of the plant should be made 15% to 20% more than the
maximum demand to meet the future load requirements.
 There should be a spare generating unit so that repairs and overhauling
of the working units can be carried out.
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.
THANKS