Quality of electricity supply as a service

Abstract

Electricity supply has nowadays become a part of every day life and is a service expected by electricity consumers. Their expectations rely on the availability of electricity whenever needed and on a safe and satisfactory operation of all connected electrical devices.

The expenses of electricity quality are in the time of open market very important to the consumers and especially to the industry. They in fact signify an additional value which can be ensured to the consumers by the suppliers in order to increase their productivity and reliability of the production process.

In order to carry out economic regulation of network charge, the Energy Agency of the Republic of Slovenia (Slovenian regulator) monitors the quality of electricity supply, which is divided into: reliability (continuity) of supply, voltage quality and commercial quality. The Agency monitors the parameters of quality electricity supply with the intention of permanently increasing and maintaining its level, respectively.

At the other side on have to know where the disturbances are coming. In the past, research of transiting disturbance from one part of energy system to another was carried out by means of different instruments and methods, from computer to experimental. Transient system analyzers provided good matches with field measurements, still their usage in the increasingly extensive systems has become useless (unfeasible or inaccurate). “Live” research is nowadays practically unfeasible on a mid-voltage or high voltage level.

The development of big digital computers has brought about new possibilities in this area. Thirty years ago, a wide number of methods came to light along with their specificity for digital solutions of transient phenomena in an electricity system. Current PCs are capable enough and programs can be obtained in a user-friendly form.