Evaluation of Electric Power Losses on 33/11 kV Distribution Feeder Networks in Uyo Urban, Nigeria Using Loss Factor Approach

No matter how carefully a power system is designed, grid inefficiencies or load losses would happen, causing power unbalance between distribution and major load centers. It is therefore fundamental to clearly determine and identify electric power system losses for network improvement because of their financial-economic value to distribution companies and consumers. In this work, relevant data including monthly loading, feeder route length, and cross-sectional area of four 11 kV feeders namely, Aka, Ibrahim Babangida, Udo Udoma, and Idongesit Nkanga secretariat-dedicated feeders were obtained from the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution (PHED) company technical office, Uyo, Nigeria for four years (January 2018 to December 2021) for the 33/11 kV Akwa Ibom State Secretariat Injection Substation and distribution feeder circuits. Average load, maximum load, load factor, loss factor, power losses in the feeders and total power loss in the system were computed and the results which were shown graphically revealed grid inefficiencies and power imbalance or losses which increased slightly on a yearly basis. The losses are due to heat dissipation, lack of maintenance of the power system components, transformer overloading, copper losses, core losses, lengthy feeder routes, and location/aging of the transformers. Suggestions were made in order to reduce further losses in the network.