Standard levels of energy losses in primary distribution circuits for SCADA application

The reduction of energy losses in distribution systems is an important issue during planning and operation with important technical and economical implications. The standard or normal level of energy losses in primary distribution circuits is an important indicator for the planning and operation of electrical distribution circuits. It depends upon a number of parameters and variables, such as the nominal circuit voltage, the installed transformer capacity, the number of transformation points, the load level, etc. In this paper, the application of a statistical procedure for the determination of the standard levels of energy losses in primary distribution circuits is proposed. The methodology is applied to a subset of 312 primary distribution circuits out of a total of 819 circuits of the electrical distribution network that serves the city of Caracas and its surroundings. The resultant standard upper and lower levels of energy losses are presented for the 15 different groups of circuits that were formed by the statistical procedure. These limits are used online for the identification of those distribution feeders with an operating level of energy losses out of the standard levels of its corresponding statistical group, as candidates for the application of energy losses reduction measures. The developed application software is presently running online at the distribution energy-management system of the of C.A. La Electricidad de Caracas-AES Venezuela.