FAULT AND POWER LOSS ANALYSIS ON 11kV FEEDER LINES AND COST IMPLICATION ON ADO-EKITI POWER DISTRIBUTION NETWORK

Fault power loss and increasing demand for power by the various consumers pose a great challenge to the stakeholders in the energy sector. This study presents analysis of fault and power loss on 11kV network in Ado-Ekiti power distribution system. In order to achieve this aim operational problem involving network unavailability due to fault occurrences and power loss due to outage are valuated and analyzed using descriptive statistical method. In the course of the study outage events and durations downtime of disconnected loads and nature of faults were observed and captured for analysis using statistical method. It is alarming as this study reveals that substantial portion of the total power supplied to Ado-Ekiti in four years was lost as a result of the faults on the four 4 11kV feeders in the State capital. Analysis of the result shows that frequent open circuit and earth faults are the causes of the losses and the implications on the economy in four years under consideration was estimated at one hundred and eight million eight hundred and thirty five thousand nine hundred and sixty eight naira amp8358108 835 968 .00.The percentage contribution of each feeder to the total fault of the network between 2008 and 2011 range from approximately 17 to 31 while the percentage contribution of each feeder to the load loss of the network range from approximately 17 to 33. It was observed that reduced outage on the feeders and quick response to faults whenever it occurs are the ways of eliminating or reducing the losses