Load Characteristics and Tariff

EE 453 Power Transmission and Distribution

Dr. Muhyaddin Jamal Rawa

Contents
1. Basic Definitions.
2. Load Curves.
3. Load-Duration Curves.
4. Tariffs.

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1. Basic Definitions
• Demand.
“The demand of an installation or system is
the load at the receiving terminals averaged
over a specified interval of time”.
The load may be given in kilowatts, kilovars,
kilovoltamperes, kiloamperes, or amperes.

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• Demand Interval
It is the period over which the load is
averaged.
This selected period may be 15 min, 30 min, 1
hr, or even longer, denoted as Δt.
Of course, there may be situations where the
15-and 30-min demands are identical.

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• The demand statement should express the
demand interval Δt used to measure it.
• Figure 2.1 shows a daily demand variation
curve, or load curve, as a function of demand
intervals.

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• The load is expressed in per unit (pu) of peak
load of the system.
• Note that the selection of both Δt and total
time t is arbitrary.
• For example, the maximum of 15-min
demands is 0.940 pu, and the maximum of 1-h
demands is 0.884, whereas the average daily
demand of the system is 0.254.

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• The data given by the curve of Figure 2.1 can
also be expressed as shown in Figure 2.2.

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• This curve is called the load duration curve.
• The curve shows the number of hours in the
day that load exceeded the value.
• The load duration curves can be daily, weekly,
monthly, or annually.
• For example, if the curve is a plot of all the
8760 hourly loads during the year, it is called
an annual load duration curve.

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• In that case, the curve shows
▪ the individual hourly loads during the year, but
not in the order that they occurred, and
▪ the number of hours in the year that load
exceeded the value.

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• The hour-to-hour load on a system changes
over a wide range.
• For example, the daytime peak load is
typically double the minimum load during the
night.
• Usually, the annual peak load is, due to
seasonal variations, about three times the
annual minimum.
• To calculate the average demand, the area
under the curve has to be determined.

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• Maximum Demand
The maximum demand of an installation or
system is the greatest of all demands which
have occurred during the specified period of
time.

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• Connected Load
It is “the sum of the continuous ratings of the
load-consuming apparatus connected to the
system or any part thereof”.

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• Demand Factor
It is the ratio of the maximum demand of a
system to the total connected load of the
system.
Therefore, the Demand Factor (DF) is

The DF can also be found for a part of the

system, for example, an industrial or
commercial customer, instead of for the whole
system.
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• In either case, the DF is usually less than 1.0.
• It is an indicator of the simultaneous
operation of the total connected load.
• When the maximum demand and total
connected demand have the same units, the
DF is dimensionless.

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• Example
Total connected load = 100 MW
Maximum demand = 70 MW
DF=70%
But for Maximum Demand of 100 MW
DF=100%

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• Diversified Demand (or Coincident Demand)
It is the demand of the composite group, as a
whole, of somewhat unrelated loads over a
specified period of time.
Here, the maximum diversified demand has
an importance. It is the maximum sum of the
contributions of the individual demands to the
diversified demand over a specific time
interval.

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 As shown in Figure 2.4, if these load curves
are aggregated, the system load curve can be
developed.
The interclass coincidence relationships can be
observed by comparing the curves.

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• Noncoincident Demand
The sum of the demands of a group of loads
with no restrictions on the interval to which
each demand is applicable.
Here, again the maximum of the
noncoincident demand is the value of some
importance.

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• Utilization Factor
It is the ratio of the time that a piece of
equipment is in use to the total time that it
could be in use.
It is often averaged over time in the definition
such that the ratio becomes the maximum
demand of a system to the rated capacity of
the system.

Therefore, the utilization factor (Fu) is

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 The utilization factor can also be found for a
part of the system.
The rated system capacity may be selected to
be the smaller of thermal- or voltage-drop
capacity.

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• Plant Factor
It is the ratio of the total actual energy
produced or served over a designated period
of time to the energy that would have been
produced or served if the plant (or unit) had
operated continuously at maximum rating.
It is also known as the capacity factor or the
use factor. Therefore,

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• It is mostly used in generation studies.
• For example,

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• Load Factor
It is the ratio of the average load over a
designated period of time to the peak load
occurring on that period.
Therefore, the load factor FLD is

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 where T = time, in days, weeks, months, or
years.

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• Example:
Average Load = 50 MW
Max. Load = 50 MW

FLD=100% Flat Load Curve

But for Max. Load of 100 MW

FLD = 50%

And for Max. Load of 200 MW

FLD = 25%
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 = 79.44
79.44
𝐹𝐿 = × 100 = 18.22
436

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• Diversity factor
It is the ratio of the maximum noncoincident
demand to the maximum diversified demand.
Therefore, the diversity factor FD is

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The diversity factor can be equal to or greater than 1.0.
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• Coincidence (Simultaneity ) Factor
It is the ratio of the maximum coincident total
demand of a group of consumers to the sum
of the maximum power demands of individual
consumers comprising the group both taken at
the same point of supply for the same time.

Therefore, the Coincidence Factor (FC) is

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• Thus, the coincidence factor is the reciprocal
of diversity factor; that is,

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• Load Diversity
It is the difference between the sum of the
peaks of two or more individual loads and the
peak of the combined load.
Therefore, the Load Diversity (LD) is

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• Contribution Factor (Ci)
Manning defines Ci as the contribution factor
of the ith load to the group maximum demand.
It is given in per unit of the individual
maximum demand of the ith load.

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• Loss Factor
It is the ratio of the average power loss to the
peak-load power loss during a specified period
of time.
Therefore, the loss factor (FLS) is

Note that this equation is applicable for the

copper losses of the system, but not for the
iron losses.
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• Here is an approximate formula to relate the
loss factor to the load factor:
• For urban areas:

• For rural areas:

where
FLS = loss factor, pu
FLD = load factor, pu.
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2. Load Curves
• The curve showing the variation of load on the
power station with respect to time is known
as a load curve.

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• The daily load curves have attained a great
importance in generation as they supply the
following information readily:
▪ 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.

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 ▪ 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.

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 ▪ The ratio of the area under the load curve to the
total area of rectangle in which it is contained
gives the load factor.

▪ The load curve helps in selecting the size and

number of generating units.
This helps in operating the generating units at or
near the point of maximum efficiency.

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 ▪ The load curve helps in preparing the operation
schedule of the station.
It is the sequence and time for which the various
generating units (i.e., alternators) in the plant will
be put in operation.

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3. Load-Duration Curves
• When the load elements of a load curve are
arranged in the order of descending
magnitudes, the curve thus obtained is called
a load duration curve.

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• The area under the load duration curve and
the area under the load curve are equal.
Obviously, area under daily load duration
curve (in kWh) will give the units generated on
that day.
• It is clear from daily load curve [See Fig. 3.3.
(i)], 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.

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• 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.

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 5 pm.

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• Using the data given in the following table,
determine:
a. The class contribution factors for each of the
three load classes.
b. The diversity factor for the primary feeder.
c. The diversified maximum demand of the load
group.
d. The coincidence factor of the load group.

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 Load, kW
Time
Street Light Residential Commercial Total Demand
12:00 AM 120 220 220 560
1 120 220 220 560
2 120 220 220 560
3 120 220 220 560
4 120 220 220 560
5 120 220 220 560
6 120 220 220 560
7 120 320 220 660
8 0 420 320 740
9 0 520 520 1040
10 0 520 1020 1540
11 0 520 1020 1540
12 noon 0 520 1020 1540
1 0 520 1020 1540
2 0 520 1220 1740
3 0 520 1220 1740
4 0 520 1220 1740
5 0 720 1320 2040
6 120 720 820 1660
7 120 820 420 1360
8 120 1020 420 1560
9 120 1020 420 1560
10 120 820 220 1160
11 120 620 220 960
12:00 PM 100 300 200 600
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a.

Ccommercial

b.

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c. 2040

d.

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4. Tariff
• There are several types of rate structures used by
the utilities, and some of them are:
▪ Flat demand rate structure.
It provides a constant price per kWh, which does not
change with the time of use, season, or volume. The
rate is negotiated knowing connected load; thus
metering is not required.
▪ Straight-line meter rate structure.
It is similar to the flat structure. It provides a single
price per kWh without considering customer
demand costs.

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 ▪ Block meter rate structure.
It gives certain prices per kWh for various kWh blocks
where the price per kWh decreases for succeeding blocks.
▪ Demand rate structure.
It provides separate charges for maximum demand and
energy usage.
▪ Season rate structure.
It specifies higher prices per kWh used during the season
of the year in which the system peak occurs (on-peak
season) and lower prices during the season of the year in
which the usage is the lowest (off-peak season).

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 ▪ Time-of-day (or peak-load pricing) structure.
It specifies higher prices per kWh used during the peak
period of the day and lower prices during the off-peak
period of the day.
• The seasonal rate structure and the time-of-
day rate structure are both designed to reduce
the system’s peak load and therefore reduce
the system’s idle standby capacity.

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Reference
• “Electric Power Distribution Engineering”,
Turan Gönen, 3rd ed, 2014.
• “Electrical Power Distribution”, Prof. Adel
Gastli, YouTube.
• V. K. Mehta and R. Mehta, Principles of Power
System, Mc Graw-Hill, Chand (S.) & Co Ltd
2008.
• Saudi Electricity Company (se.com.sa)
website, access on 22/03/2023.
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