Underloading of Distribution Transformers a concern for Indian Power Utilities?

With the world’s urban area growing rapidly, the demand for energy to fuel economic activity is expected to rise as well. When compared to developed countries, India’s energy demand is almost certain to accelerate considering the growing population and per capita energy consumption.  

Foreseeing this demand, the power utilities had to ensure that the demand is met and supply is uninterrupted. To tackle this demand, power utilities planned and built substations with increased load capacity on the distribution side. 

Typically, a new substation’s load is projected and estimated for a decade or two in advance. Based on the current population and electricity use, a power consumption pattern was identified. As a result, installed transformers in a substation work near optimally. However, this is not the case. The demand did not rise as expected, causing distribution utilities to incurring losses.

Factors that have contributed to the decrease in demand include:

• • • Concerns about global warming prompted the development of energy-efficient solutions such as LEDs, which have replaced traditional bulbs and CFLs in both indoor and outdoor lighting. On the industry side, the worldwide push for sustainability demanded even more efficiency and energy optimisation.
    • Coal and gas were the only ways to generate electricity back then. However, the widespread use of solar rooftops and renewable energy has turned customers into prosumers. This has further lowered customers’ reliance on power utilities, resulting in lower energy demand.
    • Furthermore, many places did not urbanise as planned. 

What makes this a source of worry for distribution utilities?

• • • • • Underloaded transformer: Ideally, at no load, the losses are low and efficiency is high. In reality, transformers running at underload hampers its longevity and efficiency. When a transformer is not correctly sized, the underloaded condition would result in high harmonic currents. This may also cause heating in the transformers. All of this sum up to cause poor performance of the transformer. The graph above depicts an underloaded distribution transformer functioning at 20 percent of the rated load for the month August 2021. The live data is extracted from MOT-WARE. It depicts the urgent need of optimising the operations.
        • Uneconomical operation and maintenance: The substation necessitates frequent maintenance, which adds to the expense. A power utility’s performance will suffer if many transformers are under loaded and poorly utilised. Also, it adds to manpower cost. There has been a growing fleet of such transformers in utilities that demand immediate action.

The Solution – Remote Monitoring of Transformer Parameters and Optimisation of Operations

The Internet of Things has made monitoring transformer parametersmore convenient. Modern technology enables solutions that leverage AI and analytics to evaluate transformer condition.

So instead of running multiple underloaded transformers, utilities could identify and shift load to a single one. As a result, transformers are more efficient, resulting in lower operating costs and more productivity.

Remote monitoring reduces the costs involved with on-site monitoring of transformer parameters. Also, the new artificial intelligence-powered technologieshelp them develop a strategy to meet changing consumer demands.

Motwane’s IoTx device for Transformer Monitoring via MOT-WARE

IoTx is Motwane’s state-of-the-art Transformer Monitoring Technology that enables any transformer to become a ‘Smart Transformer’. Our technology is designed to be a plug & play solution for transformersto measure its vital parameters detect anomaly using big data analytics.

It empowers the utility engineers to use the open-architecture system of MOT-WARE platform that seamlessly integrates with any Test & Measurement equipment as well for better decision making.

Know more about the capabilities of our innovative IoTx device for transformers here:

Visit our site https://motwane.com/product_category/iotx/, now!