CHAPTER1

INTRODUCTION TO
ELECTRIC POWER
SYSTEM

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 LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

 Differentiate the three main components of a

modern power system.
 Explain the types of connection used in power
system.
 Describe various energy resources used to generate
electricity.
 Explain the impact of electricity industry to human
and environment.
 Explain the power industry in Malaysia.
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 INTRODUCTION
 Harnessing and utilizing energy has always been a key
factor in improving the quality of life.
 There is a close relationship between the energy used per
person and his standard of living. The greater the per capita
consumption in a country, the higher is the standard of living
of its people.
 Energy exists in different forms in nature, but the most
important form is the electric energy.
 It is the most popular form of energy, because it can be
transported easily at high efficiency and reasonable cost.

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 SYSTEM COMPONENTS

The electrical power system can be divided into

three major parts:

 Generation, the production of electricity.

 Transmission, the system of lines that transport the

electricity from the generating plants to the area in
which it will be used.

 Distribution, the system of lines that connect the

individual customer to the electric power system.
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 SYSTEM COMPONENTS

Figure 1.1: Major power system components

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 GENERATION
 With today’s emphasis on environmental consideration and
conservation of fossil fuels, many alternate sources are
considered for employing the untapped energy sources of
the sun and the earth for generation of power. Some of these
alternate sources are solar, geothermal, wind, tidal and
biomass.

 The insulation requirements and other practical design

problems limit the generated voltage to low values,
usually up to 30 kV.
 In a modern power system, the power may undergo four or
five transformations between generator and ultimate user.
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 TRANSMISSION
 Large amounts of electric power must be moved from the sites
where it is generated to the points where it is distributed for use.

 As in other parts of electrical power system this must be done as

efficiently as possible.

 If a transmission line is to move 1000MW at 95% efficiency and

it can be improved to 96%, the additional improvement must be
seriously considered. The 1% saving is 10 MW. At say RM 0.05
per kWh this represents a saving of 0.05 × 10,000 kW = RM500
per hour. If the line has an expected life time of 40 years the total
savings will be: RM 500/h × 24 h/day × 365 days/year × 40 years
= RM 175.2 million.

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 TRANSMISSION

• The main losses causes are:

 Resistance: The series resistance of a conductor depends on
the resistivity of the conductor material, its length, which is
affected by the amount of spiraling of its strands,
temperature and the skin effect.

 Inductance: The magnetic flux produced by the ac current

produces series inductive reactance because of both self
inductance along a conductor and mutual inductance between
conductors. It does not dissipate power, but results in a
voltage drop along the line and volt-amperes-reactive.

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 TRANSMISSION

 Capacitance: Conductors separated by a distance have

capacitance. The capacitance of a transmission line depends
on a conductor size, spacing, height above the ground, and
voltage.

 Corona: Corona is caused by the breakdown of air around a

transmission line because of high voltage. The effect is most
severe around small conductors and at sharp points and
corners. Corona absorbs energy from the line.

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Figure 1.2: Typical
Modern Power System
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 DISTRIBUTION

 Distribution is mainly concerned with the conveyance of

power to consumers by means of lower voltage networks.

 A typical system consists of a step-down transformers (e.g.

132/11 kV) on-load tap-changing transformer at a bulk
supply point feeding a number of lines which can vary
from a few hundred metres to several kilometers.
 The typical voltage levels for distribution networks are 33
kV, 22 kV and 11 kV for industrial and commercial
consumers. Residential consumers may be connected to
415 V three-phase or a 240 V single phase supply.
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 DISTRIBUTION

The three types of distribution systems are:

a) the radial system

b) the ring or loop system

c) the mesh system.

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 DISTRIBUTION
a) The radial distribution system
A radial system has only one supply source and it feeds a number of
loads.

Figure 1.3: A radial distribution system

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 DISTRIBUTION

The advantages of a radial distribution system are:

 simple to design – load estimation and sizing of components

is easy.
 estimation of the fault level is easy.
 grading of the protection relay is easy.

 The disadvantage of a radial distribution system is that there

is no alternative route of supply to any consumer. A fault on
a feeder will result in power outage to all consumers after the
fault location on the feeder.

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 DISTRIBUTION
b) The ring distribution system
A ring system has two or more supply sources.

Figure 1. 4 A simple ring distribution system

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 DISTRIBUTION

 The system provides two separate routes of supply to any

load. A faulty feeder is easily disconnected and the supply to
the affected load re-routed.
The disadvantages of a ring system are:

 It costs more than a radial system with the same number of

secondary sub-stations and serving the same consumers.
 Coordination of the protection relays is also difficult when
compared with a radial system.
 Estimation of fault level is relatively more difficult when
compared with a radial system.

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 DISTRIBUTION
The mesh distribution system
A mesh distribution system consists of a number of inter-
connected ring systems.

Figure 1.5: A mesh

distribution system
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 DISTRIBUTION

The advantages of a mesh distribution system are:

 More than one alternate route of supply
 Very flexible in load transfer
 No interruption of power supply if faulty equipment/section
is isolated quickly
The disadvantages are:
 Extremely difficult in grading of protection relays
 Extremely difficult to estimate fault level
 System is more expensive than the radial and ring networks.

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 CONSUMERS
DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
 The widely used systems in the electrical installations of
commercial and industrial buildings are radial distribution
systems.
 Electricity is supplied to a consumer through switchboards.
Equipment in the switchboards includes the following items:
 Circuit breakers – a switch which can be switched on/off manually or
automatically to connect or disconnect the electricity supply from the
power supply company or electricity to the various loads.
 Busbars – a set of copper or aluminum bars for distributing the electricity
to the various loads.
 Indicating and measuring instruments – includes indicating lights,
voltmeters, ammeters, kilowatt meters, power factor meters, kilowatt
hour meters and current transformers.
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Power System Control
Figure 1.6: & Analysis
A typical Dr:building
22 kV distribution system in a high rise Ibrahim Mohamed
Power System Dr: Ibrahim Mohamed
Figure 1.7: A typical 400V/230V distribution system
 GRID NETWORK
The network formed by the very high voltage transmission lines
is called the super-grid. Most of the large and efficient stations
feed through transformers directly into this network. This grid
in turns feeds a sub-transmission network operating at 132 kV -
115 kV.
 ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS OF ELECTRICAL
ENERGY
Conversion of one form of energy to another produces unwanted side
effects, as well as pollutants which need to be controlled and
disposed of.

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The extraction of fossil fuels from the earth is not only hazardous
business but also controlled through licensing by governments.

Every type of power plants, even hydro plants require careful study
and investigation through modeling, widespread surveys and
impacts statements to gain acceptance.

In recent years, considerable emphasis has been placed on ‘sustainable

development’, by which is meant the use of technologies that do not
harm the environment, particularly in the long term.

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Greenhouse Effect
The sun’s radiant energy, as it falls on the earth, warms its surface.
The earth in turn reradiates heat energy back into space in the form of
infra-red radiation. The temperature of the earth establishes itself at an
equilibrium level at which the incoming energy from the sun exactly
balances the outgoing infra-red radiation.
Atmospheric pollution

Sulfur dioxide accounts for about 95% of the emissions and is a by-
product of the combustion of coal or oil. The sulfur content of coal
varies from 0.3 to 5 percent, and for generation purposes is specified
internationally to be below a certain percentage.

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Sulfur dioxides forms H2SO4 in the air which causes damage to
buildings and vegetation. Sulphate concentrations of 9 – 10 μg/m3 of
air aggravate asthma, lung and heart disease. Sulphur oxide emission
can be controlled by:

 The use of fuel with less than 1% sulphur;

 The use of chemical reaction to remove the sulphur, in the form of
sulphuric acid, from the combustion products, e.g. limestone
scrubbers or fluidized-bed combustion;
 Removing the sulphur from the coal by gasification or flotation
processes.

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Electromagnetic radiation
The biological effects of electromagnetic radiation have produced
considerable concern among the general public as to the possible
hazards in the home and work place.
The electric field and magnetic field strengths below typical high
voltage transmission lines are given in Table 1.1.

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 Visual and audible noise impacts
The presence of overhead lines constitutes an environmental problem
on several counts:

Space is used which could be used for other purposes. The land
allocated for the lines is known as the right of way (or wayleave).
Lines are considered by many to mar the landscape. It cannot be
denied that several lines converging on a substation or plant,
especially from different directions, may be offensive to some
eyes.
Radio interference (RI), audible noise (AI), and safety
considerations must also be considered.

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 ELECTRICITY SUPPLY
INDUSTRY IN
MALAYSIA
In 1905, the first public power station, the Ulu Gombak Power
station, was commissioned supplying electricity to Kuala Lumpur
On 1st September 1990, the National Electricity Board was
corporatised as Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) bringing the
electricity supply industry into the privatization era.
As result of privatization, besides TNB, SEB and SESCO, many
independent power producers (IPP) licenses have been issued. By
1997, 15 IPPs have been approved, contributing 35% of energy
generated in the country. In 2004, IPP with installed capacity of
46.7% of 20,580 MW, generated 54.8% of the electricity consumed.
TNB, SEB and SESCO, also undertake transmission, distribution
and supply activities in their respective areas of supply.
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In order to ensure security, reliability and quality of power supply, the
industry is governed by policies, regulations and acts such as Fuel
Policy for Electricity Generation, Electricity Regulation 1994,
Malaysia Grid Code, Power Purchase Agreements etc.
The following data would give some indication about the
development of electricity industry in Malaysia.

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 End of Chapter 1
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Power System Dr: Ibrahim Mohamed