ELECTRICAL LOADING [David’s Compilation]

Loading refers to t he amount of electrical power being drawn from a source at a given time.

Demand, the rate at which electrical energy is consumed, typically measured in kilowatts (kW) or kVA
over a given period of time.

Load Curve (Profile); A graph that shows how the demand for electricity varies over a specific period,
such as a day, week, month, or year.

 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. The monthly load curve is generally used to fix the rates of energy.
 The yearly load curve is obtained by considering the monthly load curves of that particular year. The
yearly load curve is generally used to determine the annual load factor.

Significance:

 The daily load curve shows the variations of load on the power station during different hours of the day.
 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.
 The highest point on the daily load curve represents the maximum demand on the station on that day.
 The area under the daily load curve divided by the total number of hours gives the average load on the
station in the day.
 The load curve helps in selecting the size and number of generating units. [The number and size of the
generating units are selected to fit the load curve. This helps in operating the generating units at or near
the point of maximum efficiency.]
 The load curve helps in preparing the operation schedule of the station. [It is the sequence and time for
which the various generating units (ie., alternators) in the plant will be put in operation]

Load Duration Curve, It helps understand how often different demand levels occur and the load elements
of the load profile are arranged in descending order and sometimes the period can be expressed as a %age.
 The load duration curve is obtained from the same data as the load curve but the ordinates are arranged
in the order of descending magnitudes and the area under the load duration curve and the area under the
load curve are equal.
 The daily load duration curve can be readily obtained from it.
 It is clear from daily load curve that load elements in order of descending magnitude are: 20 MW for 8
hours; 15 MW for 4 hours and 5 MW for 12 hours.

Significance:

 The load duration curve gives the data in a more presentable form. In other words, it readily shows the
number of hours during which the given load has prevailed.
 The area under the load duration curve is equal to that of the corresponding load curve. Obviously, area
under daily load duration curve (in kWh) will give the units generated on that day.

Utilization Factor; The ratio of maximum demand to connected load [ Rated capacity] over a specific
period. It indicates how effectively a piece of equipment is being used.

𝑀𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑
𝑈𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 =
𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦

Coincident Maximum Demand; The highest simultaneous demand of all electrical loads on a power
system.

Non-Coincident Maximum Demand: The sum of the individual maximum demands of the various parts
of the system, regardless of when they occur.

Coincident Factor: The ratio of the coincident maximum demand to the sum of the individual maximum
demands of all loads.

Non-Coincident Factor: The ratio of the system's maximum demand to the highest individual customer's
demand.

Diversity Factor; The ratio of the sum of the individual maximum demands of various loads to the
maximum demand of the combined load. It reflects how simultaneous the peak demands of different loads
are.

𝑁𝑜𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑

𝐷𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 =
𝐶𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑

Maximum Demand; The highest recorded rate of electrical energy consumption over a specific period.
It's a crucial factor for designing and managing power systems.

Demand Factor; The ratio of the maximum demand to rated capacity over a specific period. It's similar to
the utilization factor, but may be calculated for different timeframes.

Load Factor; The ratio of the average load to maximum demand of a piece of equipment or a system over
a specific period. A higher load factor indicates better utilization.

Connected Load; The total capacity of all electrical equipment connected to a power system, expressed in
kilowatts (kW) or megawatts (MW).

Rated Power; The maximum designed output of a piece of electrical equipment.

Demand Interval; The specific time period over which the rate of electrical energy consumption is
measured, such as 15 minutes, 30 minutes, or an hour.

Significance; To capture the variation in power consumption over short periods, providing a more detailed
understanding of demand patterns.

Demand Period; The specific timeframe chosen to evaluate the demand, such as a day, week, month, or
year. This period is divided into multiple demand intervals. The demand period can be a day, a month, or
even longer, depending on the analysis requirements.

Significance; To understand the overall demand characteristics over a more extended period, accounting
for daily, weekly, or seasonal variations.

Contribution Factor; A factor used to allocate the cost of electricity based on a customer's contribution to
the system's peak demand.

Meter Rules; Regulations that govern the installation and operation of electricity meters used to measure
customer demand and consumption.

Loss Factor; The ratio of the energy delivered to a customer to the energy sent from the source. It accounts
for energy losses that occur during transmission and distribution.

Computing Feeder Capacities; The process of determining the maximum amount of power a feeder can
safely and reliably deliver, considering load characteristics and voltage drop limitations.

After diversity maximum demand (ADMD); The simultaneous maximum demand of a group of
homogeneous consumers, divided by the number of consumers, normally expressed in kVA.

 This value generally decreases to an approximately constant value for 1 000 or more consumers and
has therefore been chosen as a convenient reference value. (Practically no difference in ADMD exists
between 100 and 1 000 consumers.
 For customers who have the potential to have a high or very high demand, an individual customer’s
maximum demand is generally approximately two to three times the ADMD for a group of similar
customers. For customers with a limited potential demand, in the very low, low, or moderate
consumption range, an individual customer’s consumption is typically four to five times the ADMD for
a group of similar customers.

DSP A domestic supply point is the same as consumer metering point.

Suppressed Demand; Situation in which the rate of energy supplied is insufficient to reach the actual
energy demand.

Released demand; is a situation in which the initially unmet [suppressed demand] is finally fulfilled.

Bidirectional Flow of Power; Power flowing in both directions on a feeder, which can occur with
distributed generation sources like solar panels and need for net metering.
Types of Loads

A device which taps electrical energy from the electric power system is called a load on the system. The
load may be resistive (e.g., electric lamp), inductive (e.g., induction motor), capacitive or some combination
of them. The various types of loads on the power system are:

 Domestic load. Domestic load consists of lights, fans, refrigerators, heaters, television, small motors
for pumping water etc. Most of the residential load occurs only for some hours during the day (i.e., 24
hours) e.g., lighting load occurs during night time and domestic appliance load occurs for only a few
hours. For this reason, the load factor is low (10% to 12%).
 Commercial load. Commercial load consists of lighting for shops, fans and electric appli- ances used
in restaurants etc. This class of load occurs for more hours during the day as compared to the domestic
load. The commercial load has seasonal variations due to the extensive use of air- conditioners and
space heaters.
 Industrial load. Industrial load consists of load demand by industries. The magnitude of industrial load
depends upon the type of industry. Thus small scale industry requires load upto 25 kW, medium scale
industry between 25kW and 100 kW and large-scale industry requires load above 500 kW. Industrial
loads are generally not weather dependent.
 Municipal load. Municipal load consists of street lighting, power required for water sup- ply and
drainage purposes. Street lighting load is practically constant throughout the hours of the night. For
water supply, water is pumped to overhead tanks by pumps driven by electric motors. Pumping is
carried out during the off-peak period, usually occurring during the night. This helps to improve the
load factor of the power system.
 Irrigation load. This type of load is the electric power needed for pumps driven by motors to supply
water to fields. Generally this type of load is supplied for 12 hours during night.
 Traction load. This type of load includes tram cars, trolley buses, railways etc. This class of load has
wide variation. During the morning hour, it reaches peak value because people have to go to their work
place. After morning hours, the load starts decreasing and again rises during evening since the people
start coming to their homes.

Read about meter Rules and the multi-quadrant operation