EE5512 Power System Operation and Control

Lecture 3 – Overview (Part C)

Spring 2022

Raheel Zafar
Department of Electrical Engineering
Lahore University of Management Sciences
raheel.zafar@lums.edu.pk

Outline
• Introduction
• Load curve
• Load-duration curve
• Integrated load-duration curve
• Economic aspects: Important terms and factors
• Numerical problems

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 Introduction
• One important characteristic of electric energy is that it should be used as it is
generated.
• Otherwise it may be stated that the energy generated must be sufficient to meet the
requirements of the customers at all times.
• Because of the diversified nature of activities of the consumers (e.g., domestic,
industrial, agricultural, etc.), the load on the system varies from instant to instant.
• However, the generating station must be in a “state of readiness” to supply the load
without any intimation from the consumer.
• This “variable load problem” is to be tackled effectively ever since the inception of a
power system.
• This necessitates a thorough understanding of the nature of the load to be supplied.

Load Curve
• A load curve is a plot of the load
demand (on the y-axis) versus the time
(on the x-axis) in the chronological
order.
• From out of the load connected, a
consumer uses different fractions of
the total load at various times of the
day as per their requirements.
• Since a power system has to supply
load to all such consumers, the load to
be supplied varies continuously with
time and does not remain constant.
• Daily load curve considers a time
period of 24 hours.

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 Load Curve cont..

• The information obtained from daily load curve includes:

• Observe the variation of load in the power system during different hours of the day.
• Area under this curve gives the number of units generated in a day.
• Highest point on that curve indicates the maximum demand on the power station
on that day.
• The area of this curve divided by 24 hours gives the average load on the power
station on that day.
• It helps in the selection of the rating and number of generating units required.

• An annual load curve is a plot of the load demand of the consumer

against time in hours of the year (1 year = 8,760 hours).

Load Curve cont..

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 Load Curve cont..

Load-Duration Curve
• The load-duration curve is a plot of
the load demands (in units of
power) arranged in a descending
order of magnitude (on the y-axis)
and the time in hours (on the x-
axis).
• It is simply the plot of load versus
time duration for which that load
was persisting.
• Load-duration curve is obtained
from the daily load curve.

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 Load-Duration Curve cont..

• The area under the load-duration

curve is equal to the daily load
curve and gives the number of
units (kWh) generated for a given
day.
• It can be extended for any time
period (e.g., a month or a year).

Integrated Load-Duration Curve

• Integrated load-duration curve is a plot of the cumulative number of units
of electrical energy (on the x-axis) and the load demand (on the y-axis).
• In the operation of hydro-electric plants, it is necessary to know the
amount of energy between different load levels.
• This information can be obtained from the load-duration curve.
• Let the figure (a) on the next slide be the duration curve of a particular
power station.
• Obviously the area under the load-duration curve represents the daily
energy generated (in MWh).

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 Integrated Load-Duration Curve cont..

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Integrated Load-Duration Curve cont..

• The minimum load on the station is d1 (MW).

• The energy generated during the 24-hour period is 24 d1 (MWh).
• We can assume that the energy generated varies linearly with the load demand from
zero to d1 as indicated in figure (b).
• As the load demand increases from d1 to d2 MW, the total energy generated will be less
than 24 d2 MWh, since the load demand of d2 MW persists for a duration of less than
24 hours.
• The energy generated between the load demands of d2 and d1 is shown cross-latched
in figure (a).
• The integrated load-duration curve is also the plot of the cumulative integration of area
under the load curve starting at zero loads to the particular loads.
• It exhibits an increasing slope up to the peak load.

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 Integrated Load-Duration Curve cont..

• In a power system, some generating stations

act as base-load stations while others act as
peak-load stations.
• Base-load stations run at 100% capacity on a
24-hour basis.
• Nuclear reactors are ideally suited for this
purpose.
• Base load is the unvarying load that occurs
during the whole day on the station.
• Intermediate or controlled power generating
stations normally are not fully loaded.
• Hydro-electric stations are the best choice for
this purpose.

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Integrated Load-Duration Curve cont..

• Peak load stations operate during the peak load hours only.
• Since the natural gas-fired power plants can pick up the load very quickly,
they are best suited to serve as peak load stations.
• Where applicable, pumped-storage-hydro-electric plants can be operated
as peak load stations.
• A base-load station operates at a high load factor whereas the peak load
plant operates at a low load factor.
• So, the base-load station should have low operating costs.

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 Economic Aspects: Important Terms and Factors
Several terms are used in connection with power supply to an area, whether it be for the
first time (as is the case when the area is being electrified for the first time) or
subsequently (due to the load growth).
1. Connected Load
• A consumer, for example, a domestic consumer, may have several appliances rated at
different wattages.
• Connected load is the sum of ratings of the apparatus installed on a consumer’s
premises.
2. Maximum Demand
• It is the maximum load used by a consumer at any time.
• Generally the maximum demand is less than the connected load since all the
appliances are never used at full load at a time.
• The maximum demand is usually measured by a maximum demand indicator.

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Economic Aspects: Important Terms and Factors cont..

3. Demand Factor
• The ratio of the maximum demand to the connected load is called the demand factor.
maximum demand
𝐷𝐹 =
connected load
• Maximum demand and connected load are to be expressed in the same unit (e.g., W,
kW or MW).
4. Average Load
• If the number of kWh supplied by a station in one day is divided by 24 hours, then the
value obtained is known as the daily average load.

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 Economic Aspects: Important Terms and Factors cont..

5. Load Factor
• The ratio of average load to the maximum demand is called the load factor.

• If the plant is in operation for a period T,

• Depending upon the time period, the load factor can be a daily load factor, a monthly load
factor or an annual load factor.
• Load factor is always less than one because average load is smaller than maximum demand.
• Load factor plays a key role in determining the overall cost per unit generated.
• Higher the load factor of the power station, lesser will be the cost per unit generated.

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Economic Aspects: Important Terms and Factors cont..

6. Diversity Factor
• Diversity factor is the ratio of the sum of the maximum demands of a group of
consumers to the simultaneous maximum demand of the group of the consumers.

• A power system 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 system is always less than the sum of
individual maximum demands of the consumers.
• A high diversity factor implied that with a smaller maximum demand on the station, it
is possible to cater to the needs of several consumers with varying maximum demands
occurring at different hours of the day.
• The lesser the maximum demand, the lesser will be the capital investment on the
generators.

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 Economic Aspects: Important Terms and Factors cont..

• A higher diversity factor and a higher load factor are the desirable characteristics of the
load on a power station.
• The load factor can be improved by encouraging the consumers to use power during
off-peak hours with certain incentives like offering a reduction in the cost of energy
consumed during off-peak hours.
7. Plant Capacity
• It is the capacity or power for which a plant or station is designed.
• It should be slightly more than the maximum demand.
• It is equal to the sum of the ratings of all the generators in a power station.
8. Plant Capacity Factor
• It is the ratio of the average demand on the station to the maximum installed capacity
of the station.

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Economic Aspects: Important Terms and Factors cont..

9. Utilization Factor (or plant-use factor)

• It is the ratio of kWh generated to the product of the plant capacity and the number of
hours for which the plant was in operation.

10. Firm Power

• It is the power that should always be available even under emergency.
11. Prime Power
• It is the maximum power (may be thermal or hydraulic or mechanical) continuously
available for conversion into electric power.

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 Economic Aspects: Important Terms and Factors cont..

12. Dump Power

• This is the term usually used in hydro-electric plants.
• It represents the power in excess of the load requirements.
• It is made available by surplus water.
13. Spill Power
• It is the power that is produced during floods in a hydro-power station.
14. Cold Reserve
• It is the reserve-generating capacity that is not in operation, but can be made available
for service.
15. Hot Reserve
• It is the reserve-generating capacity that is in operation, but not in service.

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Economic Aspects: Important Terms and Factors cont..

16. Spinning Reserve

• It is the reserve-generating capacity that is connected to busbars and is
ready to take load.

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 Numerical Problems

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Numerical Problems cont..

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 Numerical Problems cont..

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Numerical Problems cont..

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 Numerical Problems cont..

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Suggested Readings
• Sreenivasan | 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6

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 Thank you!

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