29 March 2014 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Disclaimer:
This piece of writing is merely a limited research
compiled from different sources and personal experience. It is neither a result
of any proper research.
The
writer:
It is almost a default to hit the
world headlines whenever some big innovation and exploration is made or a
project is put in place the first time but it remains much untold once it is
over and transferred to operation. The energy sector which consumes a lot of
capital and know-how is most often prone to such phenomenon. We don’t hear how
the operation goes as much as we are told when the projects come to being. This creates a gap to learn which ones are
effective and take lessons from it as most operational outcomes and reports are
too general, cumulative and averages.
As of 2010 world fact book of CIA
estimate, the world’s annual electricity production was 21.11 trillion KWH with
a net consumption of 19.46 trillion KWH; the difference remains an annual energy
loss which is a little higher than the annual energy generated by Tana Beles
power plant of Ethiopia assuming to perform with a load factor of about 35%.
Ethiopia in particular, annually
produces 4.929 billion KWH energy with a net consumption of 4.451 billion KWH and
an annual energy loss of 478.00 million KWH. When compared to the world’s
annual average, Ethiopia’s annual energy loss is higher by about 1.9 percent.
This higher loss of energy may partially
be attributed to longer transmission lines as many of the energy sources are hydro
power plants and located away from the load centers and consumers. However;
what is equally apparent to this higher loss of energy is probably the aged and
poorly maintained network of the nation. As the historical trend depicts, this
loss figure will probably rise when the network gets bigger unless
· Scheduled maintenance as per recommendation of
equipment and material manufacturers is put in place rather than replacing only
when damaged or failed,
· The effort of diversification
of the energy resources which takes in to account the distance to load centers are
scaled up.
· The efficiency of power plant equipment is made
to increase,
· Modern demand side management tools are deployed
in parallel
· Ways of discouraging vandalism of power
transmission structures and theft of power is devised,
· Upgrading of the overall system as planned to
avoid bottle neck of the power flow is effected ,
Maintaining the network keeps it
running longer and reduces downtime in addition to the contribution on the
reduction of energy loss. Most industrial systems are designed to operate
reliably for 20 to 60 years — but only if they're properly serviced and
maintained.
Medium and large scale industries
should also be encouraged and enforced to implement proper power factor
correction equipment to minimize the effect of the reactive power on the
transmission network. When the power factor of the consumers is lowered, the
current of the system increases thereby increasing the loss as it is not easy
to increase the size of the conductor and raise the capacity of the system of
an already established network. It will also make voltage regulation difficult
and reduce handling capacity of the overall system.
In addition to that, outsourcing the
maintenance sector /rather than relying only on the states utility, EEU/
followed by proper supervision and monitoring may be an option to minimize the
loss Ethiopia is incurring annually.
If
businesses conduct further research and engage in the area, they will have long
lasting and ongoing business opportunity in addition to contributing their part
in reducing the state’s prevailing energy loss.
Moreover, it is the management and
the technical work force that can create a real difference in the sector. Accordingly,
investing on genuine technical expertise will not have any parallel. It is
appreciated that man power trainings are usually part of new project contracts
but fairness to evaluate for effectiveness based on merit and retaining them rather
than wasting time on short time benefits is yet a much to do business ahead.
Regional
administrations should also exercise to take responsibility of protecting the
networks under their territory rather than pointing their fingers towards the
electric utility or Ethiopian electric power alone if the plan envisioned by
the GTP is to be carried out as planned.
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Power flow
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Output power
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Power
from source
generating
stations
|
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Power lost in the TL
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Transmission line
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Fig: Simple graphical view of the power loss in power
flow!
All
in all, pushing hard the investment on power generation forward, as is
currently practiced, is not of a choice for Ethiopia to sustain the evolving
economy but modernizing the already established operation and maintenance of the
power network and reducing the energy loss is equally indispensable.
We are almost done, God bless
Ethiopia and the efforts of its people!
Thank you for dropping by,
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