LT Capacitor Intervention at MEPCO

PDP team visited Multan Electric Supply Company (MEPCO) for the field work Background: It is a well-known fact in the power industry that when the power factor on a power systems feeders are lower than 90-95%, there are excessive KWHs being lost on the feeder, and capacity of lines and equipment are being used needlessly to conduct VAR flow, instead of transmitting useful power to customers. It is further known that the VAR flow can be reduced or eliminated by the installation of properly sized shunt capacitors. It was determined from field measurements taken in August, 2011 on Lal Kamal Feeder, that it was economically feasible to install low tension capacitors on this feeder, since it has a large number of rural motors in the range of 20 HP to 40 HP, and the power factor on them was too low. The measurements taken indicated we could reduce the current required by the average motor by 6.25 Amps per phase on the low voltage side. This would accomplish a significant reduction in losses and also release capacity on the HT feeder. Letter from MEPCO Extension of Technical Assistance Rendered by USAID (PDP) Lal Kamal Feeder Project Completed: During this project, we installed 183 LT capacitors, on 183 rural motors on Lal Kamal Feeder. Subsequent to the installation of these capacitors we took field measurements on 35 of these motors to determine what the benefits of the intervention were. The results of these measurements indicated the motors were requiring 6.21 less amps per phase and 3.19 kVA less per motor. The cost of the project was 1,237,988 Rs, and the resulting cost/benefit analysis shows this intervention will result in a loss savings of 27,499 KWH/month which will save MEPCO 3,121,670 Rs/year in losses. The simple payback period for the project is less than 1 year. In addition, the analysis shows this project on Lal Kamal Feeder will reduce the KVA demand on the feeder by 517 KVA, and allow the feeder to deliver an additional 468KW at 90% power factor.

CHART of LAL KAMAL FEEDER

Illustration of Benefit of Lal Kamal Feeder LT capacitor intervention: The following chart is for illustration purposes only. It illustrates what the result is when you reduce the losses on a feeder by 500kW. In reality, on Lal Kamal Feeder we increased its delivery capacity by 468kW. This chart is for illustration purposes only, the values are not actual data. See Chart 1 Below. Expanded Project: With the above actual test case on Lal Kamal Feeder as a basis, it is logical to expand this project to the remainder of the rural feeders of MEPCO, and later to all DISCOS of Pakistan. For this discussion we will focus only on MEPCO, and when satisfactory data is obtained on the remainder of the DISCOs, we will propose a project that includes the other 8 DISCOs of Pakistan. The cost/benefit analysis performed, indicates if the LT capacitor installation on all rural motors of the MEPCO system has the potential to increase the revenue to MEPCO of 682,621,372 Rs/yr, and reduce the demand by 154 MW @ 90% power factor. The total cost of the project is estimated to cost 407,556,893 MRupees. The resulting payback period is again less than a year. The following chart is for illustration only. The values are not taken from actual data. This chart illustrates the MEPCO system total, and what it will look like with LT capacitor intervention for all rural motors on all feeders.

CHART of MEPCO SYSTEM TOTAL Conclusions: It is obvious from the above discussion that large reduction in KWH losses, large increases in power line and equipment capacities available to deliver power to consumers can be achieved by correcting the power factor on the DISCOs power systems. In addition, it will improve their revenues significantly. We plan to introduce this project in all the DISCOs in Pakistan in the future. In the News:

USAID programme helps save millions - The USAIDs Power Distribution Program, in cooperation with the Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco) has completed

installation of 183 low tension (LT) capacitors on Tube-Wells in one selected feeder in Lodhran sub-division of Mepco. USAID-MEPCO completes power distribution program - IslamabadThe power distribution program of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in cooperation with the Multan Electric Power Company (MEPCO) has completed. The capacitor installations were carried out as part of a pilot project whi USAID programme helps save millions - The USAIDs Power Distribution Program, in cooperation with the Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco) has completed installation of 183 low tension (LT) capacitors on Tube-Wells in one selected feeder in Lodhran sub-division of Mepco. USAID-MEPCO completes power distribution program - ISLAMABAD: The power distribution program of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in cooperation with the Multan Electric Power Company (MEPCO) has completed.