[UC28] Energy Balancing for Revenue Protection

The Utility Problem

Losses are part of every electrical system. They are divided into technical and non-technical. Technical losses occur in any electricity transmission and are caused by the physical effects of electricity. Technical losses include corona losses, leakage current losses, dielectric losses, Joule losses on lines, cables and transformers, no-load transformer losses and others. Non-technical losses, sometimes also called commercial losses, include, for example, unmeasured consumption, errors in metering, billing or accounting, consumption below the sensitivity limit of meters, unauthorized consumption, etc.

Utilities usually only know the volume of losses for the entire grid and usually estimate the values for smaller parts of the grid. Utilities also need to learn the ratio between technical and non-technical losses. However, to detect non-technical losses, it is necessary to know where they occur; therefore, more is needed to understand the losses for the whole grid.

For this purpose, Energy Balancing is a well-known approach. Energy Balancing is a technique of energy measurements comparison between:

1. Net energy value within the specific grid area – often called segment – measured by grid sensors and;
2. Net value of the energy consumption on the grid edge – on meter/consumer level.

However, the systematic grid-wide deployment of energy balancing using software tools is challenging. With them, it is possible to automatically create segments and assign consumption points to grid energy measurement devices for accurate energy balancing. Moreover, suppose the utility wants to simplify the process of implementing energy balances on the electricity grid. In that case, it is helpful to integrate data from a system containing links & relations between grid elements – GIS data.

Reducing losses is very important for the company’s profits. Losses must be purchased at a particular market price, reducing the company’s profits. If losses are reduced, the company’s profits increase and financial resources can be spent on grid modernization. 

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