Power Plant
Factors
CIFLORA2023
Load Curve
The electric load curve is a
graph that shows system
demand by hour
Used by system operators
to develop hourly dispatch
plans for power plants
Connected Load (CL)
Sum of all continuous rating of all
utilization equipment in consumer
premises connected to the supply
system
Maximum Greatest demand of load on the
power station during a given
Demand (MD) period
Also called Peak Load
Average Load (AL)
Average load occurring on the power station in a given
period
Sometimes called Average Demand
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑒𝑑, (𝑇𝐸𝑃)
𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝐴𝐿 =
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑑 ℎ𝑟𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑑𝑎𝑦, 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟, (𝑃𝑟)
Demand Factor
Ratio of maximum demand 𝑀𝐷
𝐷𝐹 =
on the power station to its 𝐶𝐿
connected load
Diversity Factor (Div F)
Ratio of the sum of the σ 𝑀𝐷
𝐷𝑖𝑣 𝐹 =
individual maximum 𝑆𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑀𝐷
demand to the
simultaneous maximum
demand on the power
station
Coincidence Factor (Co F)
Reciprocal of diversity 𝑆𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑀𝐷 1
𝐶𝑜 𝐹 = =
factor σ 𝑀𝐷 𝐷𝑖𝑣 𝐹
Ratio of average load to the
maximum demand during a given
period
Load Factor
(LF) 𝐿𝐹 =
𝐴𝐿
=
𝑇𝐸𝑃
𝑀𝐷 𝑀𝐷 𝑥 𝑆𝑟
𝑆𝑟 = 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟
Capacity Factor (CF)
Ratio of actual energy 𝑇𝐸𝑃
𝐶𝐹 =
produced to the maximum 𝐼𝐶 𝑥 𝑃𝑟
possible energy that could
have been produced IC = installed capacity or
during a given period. rated capacity of the
machine as an individual
Name Plate Ability to carry load under
or Capacity condition specified by the
manufacturer
Rating
Maximum output of equipment
Capability obtained by test under specific
Rating operating condition (not specified
by manufacturer)
Plant Use (or Output) Factor (PUF)
Ratio of the energy 𝑇𝐸𝑃
𝑃𝑈𝐹 =
generated to the product 𝐼𝐶 𝑥 𝑆𝑟
of plant capacity and the
number of hours for which
the plant was in operation
Ratio of 𝑀𝐷
Utilization maximum
𝑈𝐹 =
𝐼𝐶
Factor (UF) demand to
the generator
capacity
Operating Plant Factor (OPF)
Ratio of the average load 𝑇𝐸𝑃
𝑂𝑃𝐹 =
for a given period to the 𝑂𝑃𝐶 𝑥 𝑆𝑟
operating capacity in
actual service (for multi-set
plant)
𝑂𝑃𝐶 = 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦
Operating Load Ratio of the average load for a
given period of the time to the
Factor (OLF) average of daily maximum
demand during the same period
(usually 30 day period)
𝑇𝐸𝑃
30(24)
𝑂𝐿𝐹 =
𝑀𝐷1 + 𝑀𝐷2 + ⋯ + 𝑀𝐷30
30
Ratio between Capacity
Factor to the Plant Use
Operating Factor, or it the ratio of
service hours to the period
(or Service) hours
Factor (OF)
𝐶𝐹 𝑆𝑟
𝑂𝐹 = =
𝑃𝑈𝐹 𝑃𝑟
Plant Ratio (PR)
Per annum measure of the 𝑇𝐸𝑃 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟
𝑃𝑅 =
plant’s capacity factor. 𝐼𝐶 𝑥 𝑃𝑟
It is the ratio of the net kWh
output for the year to the
name plate capacity of
the plant times hours of the
year
Example
The annual peak load on a 15000 kW power plant is 10,500
kW. Two substation are supplied by this plant. The annual
energy dispatched through substation A is 27500000 kWhr
with a peak of 8400 kW, while 16500000 kWhr are sent
through substation B with peak at 6650 kW. Calculate:
a. Diversity factor between substation
b. Plant Factor
Example
Two substations, A and B, each with a demand factor of 70
% are supplied by generating unit C. Substation A has a
connected load of 15,000 kVA at 80% pf. Diversity factor
between A and B is 1.15. The daily output is 115,200 kWHr at
a load factor of 30%. If the plant factor of the system is 24%,
what is the capacity of the generating plant. What is the
connected load of substation B.
Example
An industrial plant has an aggregate load of 100 kW. The
demand factor is 60%. If the average total energy
consumption of the plant in a year is 186 MWhr, what is the
load factor of the plant
Exercise
A power plant has two 50 MW generator sets each
operating at 7200 hours per year and 30 MW set operating
at 2400 hours per year. Determine the plant use factor if the
plant output is 600,000,000 kWhr per year.