Professional Elective-V

(Power Station and Substation Practice)

(PEC-EE 801/PE19)
Performance Parameters of a Power Station

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 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
PLANNING A POWER PLANT CAPACITY & UNITS
❖ Basic Parameters to be decided to plan a power plant :
1. TOTAL POWER OUTPUT (kWrated)
or INSTALLED CAPACITY
2. SIZE OF UNITS
❖ Installed Capacity to be estimated from :
1. ASSESSMENT OF MAXIMUM DEMAND
(MD)
2. FUTURE GROWTH OF DEMAND
3. RESERVE CAPACITY
❖ Size and number of units to be estimated from
1. SPACE AVAILABLE 2. COST/kW
3. LOAD VARIATION 4. MAINT.SCH
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 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
BASE LOAD PLANT
❖ A base load power plant is a power station that
usually provides a continuous supply of electricity
throughout the year with some minimum power
generation requirement.
❖ Base load power plants will only be turned off during
periodic maintenance, upgrading, overhaul or service.
❖ Base load power plant has the character of slow
demand response, a mechanism to match generation
with the load it supplies.
❖ Some examples of base load plants are 1. Thermal
plants 2. Nuclear plants 3. Tidal power plants
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 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
PEAK LOAD PLANT
❖ A Peak load power plant is a power station that only
runs during high demands of electricity during peak
hours.
❖ Because of that, the price of electricity it generates is
generally higher than the electricity generated by base
load power plant, which operates continuously
throughout the year.
❖ Some examples are 1. Pumped storage plant 2. Diesel
plants 3. Hydro plants 4. Gas fired power plants
❖ Peak Load Stations must be capable of quick start-up
and quick shut-down (unlike Base load stations)
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 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
LOAD CURVE
The curve showing the variation of load on the power
station (power plant) with reference to time is known as
load curve. If a time period of only 24 hours is considered,
and the resulting load curve, which is called a 'Daily load
curve', is shown in figure .

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 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
SIGNIFICANCE OF LOAD CURVE
 Shows hourly variation of load on the power system during the day.
 Area under this curve gives the number of units generated in a day.
 Highest point on the curve indicates the maximum demand on the power
station on that day.
 The area of the curve divided by 24 hours gives the average load in MW
on the power station in the day.
 It helps in selection of the rating and number of generating units required.

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 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
LOAD DURATION CURVE
❖ Load Duration Curve is the plot of Load in descending order versus
time duration. Load Duration Curve is obtained from the Daily Load
Curve as shown in figure below.

❖ From the above Load Duration Curve, it is clear that 20 MW of Load

is persisting for a period of 8 hours, 15 MW of Load for 4 hours and
so on.
❖ It is also quite clear that, the area under the load duration curve is
equal to the daily load curve and gives the number of units (kWh)
generated for a given day.
❖ The load duration curve can be extended for any period of time i.e. it8
can be drawn for a month or for year too.
 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
POWER PLANT PERFORMANCE FACTORS

Performance of a power plant can be expressed

through some common performance factors:
❖ Load
factor
❖ Capacity factor
❖ Reserve factor
❖ Use Factor
❖ Demand factor
❖ Diversity factor
❖ Availability factor
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 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
POWER PLANT PERFORMANCE FACTORS

Performance of Thermal Power Plant can be

expressed through some other common
performance factors with special reference to
thermal power plant :

❖ Heatrate (energy efficiency)

❖ Thermal efficiency
❖ Economic efficiency
❖ Operational efficiency

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 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
POWER PLANT PERFORMANCE FACTORS

LOAD FACTOR
= Average Load over a time interval
Peak Load during the same interval

= kW (avg) in year
kW(peak) in year

= kWh in year
kW(peak) x 8760 hr

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 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
POWER PLANT PERFORMANCE FACTORS

LOAD FACTOR : Significance

▪ Higher load factor means higher output and a
lower generation cost per unit
▪ High load factor indicates high usage of the
system’s equipment and is a measure of
higher efficiency
▪ The peak may be a theoretical
maximum, rather than a measured
maximum
▪ Very High Load Factor for a long and
continuous period indicates poor spinning
reserve for the plant
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 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
POWER PLANT PERFORMANCE FACTORS

CAPACITY FACTOR
Average Load (KW)
=
Rated Plant Capacity (KW)*

kWh generated in a year Peak Load x LF

= =
kW(rated) x 8760 hr Plant capacity

* Plant Rated Capacity, Installed Capacity, Name Plate Capacity are identical
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terms for a Plant
 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
POWER PLANT PERFORMANCE FACTORS

CAPACITY FACTOR : Significance

▪ Capacity factors vary greatly depending on the type of
fuel that is used and the design of the plant
▪ Capacity factor indicates the extent of the use of the
generating station. If the power generation unit is
always running at its rated capacity, then their
capacity factor is 100%
▪ When rated plant capacity is equal to the peak load, the
capacity factor and load factor become identical, i.e.
in the absence of reserve capacity Capacity Factor =
Load Factor
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 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
POWER PLANT PERFORMANCE FACTORS

RESERVE FACTOR
kW(rated) Load Factor
= =
kW(peak) Capacity Factor
= 1 / Utilization Factor
RESERVE FACTOR : Significance
Typical value of reserve factor is between 1.2 and 1.4, as
insurance against breakdowns in part of the system or sudden
increase in energy demand. But less than unity if run overloaded
Reserve Capacity = Rated Capacity − Peak Demand
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 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
POWER PLANT PERFORMANCE FACTORS

PLANT USE FACTOR

(Yearly Plant Capacity Factor)

Energy generated over a set time (say,1yr)

=
Rated Plant Capacity x Operating hrs

kWh(generated)
=
kW(rated) x Operating hrs
PLANT USE FACTOR : Significance
When Operating time is considered within a period of 1 year, Plant
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Use Factor is equal to Plant capacity Factor

 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
POWER PLANT PERFORMANCE FACTORS

DEMAND FACTOR
Actual Maxm Demand kW(max)
= =
Total Connected Demand kW(conn.)

DEMAND FACTOR : Significance

 Demand Factor is always < =1.
 Demand Factor always changes with the time and it will not remain
constant.
 The lower the Demand Factor, the less system capacity required to
serve the connected load or higher the idle part of system. 17
 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
POWER PLANT PERFORMANCE FACTORS

DIVERSITY FACTOR
Sum of MDs of individual consumers ∑ kW(max)n
= =
Simultaneous MD of all consumers kW(peak)
(Coincident MD of whole system)

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 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
POWER PLANT PERFORMANCE FACTORS
DIVERSITY FACTOR : Significance
 Diversity Factors can be defined for Generating Stations,
Substations, feeders and loads.
 Maximum demands of the consumers do not occur at the
same time
 Diversity Factor is always > =1. Higher the value better is
the diversity.
 A high diversity factor has the effect of reducing the
maximum demand. It is obtained by using electrical
energy at night load or light load periods.
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 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
POWER PLANT PERFORMANCE FACTORS

PLANT AVAILABILITY FACTOR

Total hrs available for Generation
=
Total hrs in a set time period

Operation hrs + Standby hrs

=
Operation hrs + Standby hrs + Outage hrs
NOTE : For a set time period of 1 year, the denominator is 8760 hr
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 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
POWER PLANT PERFORMANCE FACTORS
AVAILABILITY FACTOR : Significance
 While availability factor measures a plant’s potential for
use, capacity factor measures the amount of real time
during which a facility is used.
 The availability of a power plant varies greatly with the
type of fuel, the design of the plant and how the plant is
operated. Everything else being equal, plants that are run
less frequently have higher availability factors because
they require less maintenance
 Most Thermal Power Plants have availability factors
between 70% to 90%
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 Measure of ability of a power plant or a unit to operate.
 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
POWER PLANT PERFORMANCE FACTORS
AVAILABILITY FACTOR : Significance
 A Run-of-River Hydel Power Plant is ready for operation
with all its equipment healthy and without outage.
Unfortunately, the river goes dry during the peak winter
days. Can we declare the plant to be available for those
days thus contributing higher availability factor ?
 A Thermal Power Plant is ready for operation with all its
equipment healthy and without outage. Unfortunately, the
coal supply gets disrupted from the Miner Company side,
with the consequence that the plant cannot generate for
few days. Can we declare the plant to be available for
those days thus contributing higher availability factor ? .
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 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
PERFORMANCE FACTORS EXERCISE : 1

A Thermal Power Plant

has the following annual factors :
Load factor = 70% ; Capacity factor = 50% ;
Use factor = 60% ; Maximum Demand= 20MW;
Estimate the
(a) Annual energy production,
(b) Reserve Capacity over & above the Peak Load,
(c) Hours per year during which the plant is not in service.

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 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
PERFORMANCE FACTORS : SOLUTION OF EXERCISE-1
(a) Load Factor = Average Load / Peak Load
Average Load =Load Factor x Peak Load
=0.7 x 20 MW = 14 MW
Annual Energy =14 x 8760 MWh
=122.64 x 106kWh = 122.64 MU

(b) Capacity Factor = Average Load / Plant Capacity

Plant Capacity = Average Load / Capacity Factor
=14 / 0.5 MW = 28 MW
Reserve Capacity= Plant Capacity – Peak Load
=28 – 20 MW = 8 MW

(c) Use Factor = Energy Generated /(Plant Capacity x operating hrs)

Operating hrs = Energy Generated/(Plant Capacity x Use factor)
=122.64 x 106 / ( 28 x 103 x 0.6 ) hrs = 7300 hrs
Non-operating hrs = 8760 – 7300 = 1460 hrs
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 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
PERFORMANCE FACTORS EXERCISE : 2

A Hydroelectric Power Plant

has total operating hours in a year as 6132 hrs.
Stand-by hours for the Plant was 15%.
What was the Plant Availability factor for the year ?
The Plant was taken for Shutdown for annual
maintenance for 438 hours in the year.
Was there any Forced Shut down ?
If so, get the value in hours over the year.

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 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
PERFORMANCE FACTORS : SOLUTION OF EXERCISE-2
PLANT AVAILABILITY FACTOR (over an year)

= (Operation hrs + Standby hrs) / 8760

=(6132 + 15% x 8760) / 8760 = 0.85
Total Shut down or Outage hrs (over an year)
= 8760 hrs - (Operation hrs + Standby hrs)
= 8760 – 6132 – 1314 = 1314 hrs
Forced Shut down hrs (over the year)
= Total Shut down hrs – Planned Shut down hrs
= 1314 – 438 = 876 hrs
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 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
PERFORMANCE FACTORS : MCQ EXERCISES
1) A thermal generating station has an installed capacity of 15 MW and supplies a
daily load of 10 MW for 12 hours and 5 MW for remaining 12 hours. The plant
capacity factor for the station is
A) 1.0 B) 0.75 C) 0.5 D) 0.65

2) A thermal generating station has an installed capacity of 15 MW and supplies a

daily load of 10 MW for 12 hours and 5 MW for remaining 12 hours. If the load
factor is 0.8. Find the reserve capacity of the station in the nearest whole number
A) 5 MW B) 8 MW C) 10 MW D) 18 MW

3) A power station has a maximum demand of 15000 kW. The annual load factor is
50% and plant capacity factor is 40%. What is the reserve capacity of the plant?
A) 7500 kW B) 3750 kW C) 6000 kW D) 3000 kW

4) The daily energy produced in thermal power station is 720 MWh at a load factor
of 0.6. What is the maximum demand of the station?
A) 50 MW B) 30 MW C) 72 MW D) 720 MW
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 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
PERFORMANCE FACTORS : MCQ EXERCISES
5) A power station has a maximum demand of 15 MW. The plant capacity is 20
MW. What is the reserve capacity of the plant?
A) 5 MW B) 15 MW C) 20 MW D) 10 MW

6) The maximum demand of a consumer is 2 kW and corresponding daily energy

consumption is 30 units. What is the corresponding load factor?
A) 25 % B) 50.5 % C) 62.5% D) 75 %

7) A power station supplies the peak load of 50 MW, 40 MW and 70 MW to three

localities. The annual load factor is 0.50 and the diversity factor of the load at
the station is 1.55, the average load will be
A) 51.61 MW B) 57.5 MW C) 53 MW D) 52 MW

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 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
PERFORMANCE FACTORS : SOLUTION TO MCQ EXERCISES
Solution – 1 :
C.F. = Avg MW / Rated MW = 7.5 / 15 = 0.5
Solution – 2 :
Reserve Capacity = Rated MW – Peak MW
= Rated MW - Avg MW / LF = 15 – 7.5/0.8 = 8.3 ~ 8 MW
Solution – 3 :
Reserve Capacity = Rated KW – Peak KW
= Avg KW/CF - Peak KW = LF x Peak KW /CF – Peak KW
= (LF/CF –1) x Peak KW = (0.5/0.4 -1)x15000 = 3750 KW
Solution – 4 :
Maximum Demand = Avg MW / LF = (720 / 24)/0.6 MW
= 50 MW 29
 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
PERFORMANCE FACTORS : SOLUTION TO MCQ EXERCISES
Solution – 5 :
Reserve Capacity = Rated MW – Peak MW
= 20 MW – 15 MW = 5 MW

Solution – 6 :
LF = (Daily KWh/24) / Peak KW = (30/24)/2 = 0.625

Solution – 7 :
DF = Sum of Individual Consummers’ MD / Plant MD
Plant MD = (50 + 40 +70) / 1.55 MW = 103.23 MW
AVG Load = LF x Plant MD
= 0.5 x 103.23 = 51.61 MW 30
 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
PLANT OPERATIONS : MCQ EXERCISES
1) Which of the following power stations is mainly used to cover peak load on
the system?
A) Coal based Thermal Power Plant B) Nuclear Plant
C) Gas based Thermal Power Plant D) Pumped Storage Hydro Power Plant

2) The advantage of hydro electric power station over thermal power station is
A) initial cost of hydro electric power station is low
B) operation cost of hydro electric power station is low
C) hydro electric power station can supply the power throughout the year
D) Gestation period of hydro electric station is low

3) In order to have lower cost of power generation

A) load factor and diversity factor should be low
B) load factor and diversity factor should be high
C) load factor should be low but diversity factor should be high
D) load factor should be high but diversity factor should be low 31
 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
PLANT OPERATIONS : MCQ EXERCISES
[ Hint of 3 : both load factor and diversity factors are inversely proportional to
maximum demand. If load factor and diversity factors are high, maximum
demand will be less, it will reduce the machine rating and lower cost of power
generation is possible.]
4) The economics of power plant is greatly influenced by
A) load factor B) diversity factor C) both D) neither
5) Tidal power plant is a example of which of the following plant?
A) base load plant B) peak load plant C) either D)neither
6) Operating time of pumped storage plant is
A) very high B) high C) low D)neither
7) Example of base load stations are
A) thermal B) hydro C) both A & B D) gas turbine
8) Among the following which is not non conventional energy
A) Wind B) Nuclear C) Tidal D) Geothermal
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 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
PLANT OPERATIONS : MCQ EXERCISES
9) Which of following power plants will take long period in erection and
installation
A) gas turbine B) thermal C) hydro D) neuclear
[ Hint of 9 : Hydroelectric power plants takes a long time erection and
installation about 10-15 years owing to involvement of huge civil engineering
works ]
10) A diesel power plant is generally used as a/an
A) Peak load B) Base Load C) Stdby/emergency D)Any of A,B,C
11) Which of following power plants normally operate at high speeds
A) thermal B) hydro C) diesel engine D) petrol engine
12) Which power plant cannot have single unit of 100 MW capacity
A) thermal B) hydro C) diesel engine D) Nuclear
[ Hint of 12 : Diesel power plant cannot have single unit of 100 MW capacity
because of escalating fuel cost, high maintenance and lubrication cost, limited
useful supplying overloads ]
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 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
PLANT OPERATIONS : MCQ EXERCISES
13) The essential requirement(s) for power plants to be operated as peak load
plants are
A) Low Capital Cost B) Quick Start Capability
C) Quick response to load variation D) All of above
[ Hint of 13 : The power plant to be employed as peak load power plants should
have the capability of quick start, necessarily]
14) In power station practice "spinning reserve" is
(A) reserve generating capacity that is in operation but not in service
(B) reserve generating capacity that is ready to be put on bus and take the load
(C) reserve generating capacity that is available for service but not in operation
(D) capacity of the part of the plant that remains under maintenance.

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 Performance Parameters of a Power Station
PLANT OPERATIONS : SPEED & SIZE OF MACHINES
1) Given 2 machines M1 and M2 of identical rated MVA . Speed of the 1st
machine M1 is 3000 rpm and that of 2nd Machine M2 is 1000 rpm. Which one
shall be of higher size ?
2) Which of M1 and M2 in above case shall be suitable for Thermal and Hydro
station units ?
3) Why the speed of Thermal / Hydro machine speed is higher and that of
Hydro / Thermal is lower ?
4) Of Salient Pole Rotor and Non-salient pole rotors, which are applicable for
Thermal and Hydro machines ?
5) What are the relative dimensions of rotor diameter and axial length (hence
stator too) for salient and round rotor types ?
6) Why Salient Pole is not suitable for Thermal / Hydro machines ?
7) What about relative air gap, flux distribution, emf waveform, noise matters
for salient and round rotor types .
8) Number of poles for thermal / hydro machines ?
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Performance Parameters of a Power Station

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