A data-driven approach to reduce electricity theft in developing countries

Theft of electricity is a problem in many developing countries. But AMI is paving the way for data-centric architecture to help in theft detection. However, a smart grid or even AMR is a long shot for many developing countries due to the costs involved in its large-scale deployment. This paper presents a technique to detect outliers among electricity users that further investigates electricity theft using data analytics on monthly usage data available to every utility company. Using this technique, we have reduced the search space for theft identification to as low as 3.4% of the total customer base.     

Are shocks to electricity consumption transitory or permanent? Sub-national evidence from Turkey

This is the first study that aims to investigate policy shocks to energy consumption in terms of unit root properties by sector. More precisely, we analyze the stationarity of electricity consumption for 12 regions of Turkey by four sectors in addition to total electricity consumption by region (for a total of 60 cases). We find that 48 cases are non-stationary and 12 cases are stationary. Thus, policies to decrease or stimulate the use of electricity have permanent effects on electricity consumption in 80% of the cases and transitory effects in the rest. Findings and policy implications are further discussed.     

A new way for comparing solutions to non-technical electricity losses in South America

Non-technical losses are a component of energy losses associated with energy theft and fraud by the final consumers, hindering revenues of distribution utilities. This paper aims to compare the implemented solutions in the countries of South America to reduce non-technical losses. In this comparison, we introduce a new indicator based on the World Bank's database as input information. Considering that some regulatory agencies take policy actions related to non-technical losses to improve the quality of the electricity supply, we also present a correlation analysis of the proposed indicator and the electricity supply quality index. This analysis shows that in most of South America's countries, there is a high correlation within the studied horizon. An adequate characterization of the temporal variation in the proposed indicator can characterize the evolution of the consumers' perception of the quality in the electricity supply. This indicator allows each country's regulatory agency to analyze how the performed action is reducing non-technical losses concerning neighboring countries.     

大型复杂公共建筑管线综合布置技术

大型复杂公共建筑机电安装工程涵盖给排水、通风与空调、强电、弱电、消防、智能化、防盗、门禁、保密等多个专业系统,层次多、标高多、系统复杂,施工难度极大。论文充分运用管线综合平衡技术,有效地解决了施工中的各项复杂问题。     

Turkish electricity reform

Turkish electricity reform has progressed slowly due to internal resistance against privatisation, and gained momentum after Electricity Market Law of 2001, prepared in line with EU Energy Acquis and established required institutional and legal framework. Although the eligibility threshold has reached 39% market opening rate, the dominant position of public both as owner and decision-maker is still the major problem in the sector. Currently Turkey is self-sufficient in electricity, but likely to face shortages in 10 years if the growing demand is not met by either speeding the liberalisation process, or joining the South East Europe Electricity Market.     

Assessing a decade of regulatory performance for the Lesotho electricity industry

Government-run electricity utilities around the world have been subjected to reform and regulation over the last two decades in an effort to introduce private investment and competition for reliable and affordable services in support of socio-economic development. Although extensive scholarly literature abounds with regard to experiences with restructuring and regulation in many developed economies, research on electricity-sector regulatory performance in small African developing countries like Lesotho is still rare. This article provides an empirical assessment of the three critical regulatory dimensions of governance, substance, and impact in order to evaluate the performance of electricity industry regulation in Lesotho for the period 2004–2014.     

Outage-induced power backup choice in Pakistan

Like in many other developing countries, power outages are prevalent in Pakistan. Consumers are compelled to explore alternative energy strategies when the overhead of the outage surpasses that of implementing a backup plan. Inverters, small generators, and solar energy systems (SESs) are among the common backup options. This study utilizes primary data collected from the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi to delve into the factors influencing consumers' perception-based choices regarding backup solutions. To account for various backup choices, we employ multinomial logistic regression techniques on a sample of 952 households. Our analysis reveals that perception-based variables, such as electricity theft and decreasing satisfaction, negatively impact the likelihood of selecting off-grid renewable options like solar technology. Moreover, we observe that consumers residing in rented houses prefer inverters and generators, while homeownership significantly influences the adoption of all three backup choices. Interestingly, the rural-urban location of the household does not influence the decision to opt for a SES. These findings carry important policy implications for energy-deficient regions. The transition towards solar energy is driven by the household's strategy to ensure uninterrupted energy backup while simultaneously reducing the cost of electricity consumption.     

Challenges in the CO2 emissions of the Turkish power sector: Evidence from a two-level decomposition approach

Decarbonization of the energy system is urgent to avert the disruptions in the climate. Considering its share, the low carbon transition of the power sector is pivotal. Growing electricity demand poses unique challenges for Turkey to enact deep decarbonization. It is vital to uncover the contributing causes of emissions to provide strategic oversight for carbon management activities. This study investigates key drivers of CO₂ emissions from the power sector using the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index decomposition method. While efficiency improvement contributes to sustainable yet minor mitigation, changes in the fossil-fuel share indicate a cycling but significant overall impact.     

Analysis of annual heating and cooling energy requirements for office buildings in different climates in Turkey

A great amount of world energy demand is connected to the built environment. Electricity use in the commercial buildings, accounts for about one-third of the total energy consumption in Turkey and fully air-conditioned office buildings are important commercial electricity end-users since the mid-1990s. In the presented paper, the interactions between different conditions, control strategies and heating/cooling loads in office buildings in the four major climatic zones in Turkey – hot summer and cold winter, mild, hot summer and warm winter, hot and humid summer and warm winter – through building energy simulation program has been evaluated. The simulation results are compared with the values obtained from site measurements done in an office building located in Istanbul. The site-recorded data and simulation results are compared and analyzed. This verified model was used as a means to examine some energy conservation opportunities on annual cooling, heating and total building load at four major cities which were selected as a representative of the four climatic regions in Turkey. The effect of the parameters like the climatic conditions (location), insulation and thermal mass, aspect ratio, color of external surfaces, shading, window systems including window area and glazing system, ventilation rates and different outdoor air control strategies on annual building energy requirements is examined and the results are presented for each city.     

Understanding domestic fuel use practices in an urban township

Due to the complex interactions between socio-economic, cultural and political factors, some urban households consume a portfolio of energy sources, e.g. electricity, coal, paraffin, gas and solar power. A social construction of technology perspective is used to understand the choices underlying these multiple fuel practices. Nine participants (household energy managers, consumers and users) were purposefully selected from Soshanguve, an urban township in Pretoria, South Africa. Data were collected through individual in-depth interviews and narrative analysis was used to generate findings. Stories about multiple fuel use in the household showed this practice is common and forms part of the participants’ lifestyles. Social, cultural and political meanings of fuel use are identified in the narratives. Suggested interventions to optimize multiple fuel use in this context include additional technology such as solar power, collaborations with manufacturers to improve existing fuel types that are seen as potentially hazardous, and leveraging women’s knowledge and position in the household to formalize education about multiple fuels. The role of government in providing subsidies for alternative energies and reviewing accessibility to electricity was also highlighted by the participants. This research demonstrates that policy-makers should actively involve consumers in household energy system decisions through deliberative dialogue with communities.     

Small island developing states and their suitability for electric vehicles and vehicle-to-grid services

Small Island Developing States (SIDS), while at the forefront of international climate action, face a number of development challenges linked to their historic, geographic and socio-economic characteristics. Small populations and limited energy demand cap the penetration of renewable energy technologies. Electric vehicles (EVs) offer solutions for electricity storage, grid services, reduced fuel imports, and reduced pollution with associated health benefits. This paper provides a comprehensive review of literature on island applications of electric vehicles, making the case for SIDS as an area of opportunity for further exploration, and presenting the southern Caribbean island of Barbados as a case study.     

Electrical analysis of a hybrid photovoltaic-hydrogen/fuel cell energy system in Denizli, Turkey

In recent years, hybrid photovoltaic-hydrogen/fuel cell energy systems have been popular as energy production systems that are clean, environmental-friendly, modular, and independent from fossil fuels. In February 2007, a clean energy research facility consisting of a 5 kWp photovoltaic system and a 2.4 kWp hydrogen-fuel cell system was built to investigate these energy production technologies at Pamukkale University in Denizli, Turkey. In this hybrid energy system, electricity is generated by photovoltaic panels. Generated electrical energy is stored chemically in batteries and metal hydride hydrogen canisters. Hydrogen electrolyzed from water is transformed to DC electrical energy by two fuel cells in the case of its necessity. DC electricity produced by photovoltaic panels and fuel cells is converted to AC by two inverters for the requirements of the building. In this study, an electrical energy analysis of the building, in terms of energy efficiency, harmonics, voltage changes, voltage and current sags, voltage and current swells, transients, power outage, frequency changes etc., is performed to evaluate the power quality of the hybrid energy system. In addition, some measurements such as insulation resistance, loop impedance, line impedance, grounding resistance, and specific resistance of the ground are measured to obtain the electrical characteristics of the system.     

Exergoeconomic evaluation on the optimum heating circuit system of Simav geothermal district heating system

Simav is one of the most important 15 geothermal areas in Turkey. It has several geothermal resources with the mass flow rate ranging from 35 to 72 kg/s and temperature from 88 to 148 °C. Hence, these geothermal resources are available to use for several purposes, such as electricity generation, district heating, greenhouse heating, and balneological purposes. In Simav, the 5000 residences are heated by a district heating system in which these geothermal resources are used. Beside this, a greenhouse area of 225,000 m² is also heated by geothermal. In this study, the working conditions of the Simav geothermal district heating system have been optimized. In this paper, the main characteristics of the system have been presented and the impact of the parameters of heating circuit on the system are investigated by the means of energy, exergy, and life cycle cost (LCC) concepts. As a result, the optimum heating circuit has been determined as 60/49 °C.     

A decision support framework for project sponsors in the planning stage of build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects

Every decision-making problem is oriented towards the selection of the correct strategies for achieving objectives, and depends on the assumptions associated with different scenarios. Project planning in a buildoperate-transfer (BOT) project is a complicated decision-making problem because the model has a complex financial and organizational structure which is influenced also by the socio-economic environment in a country. A decision support framework is reported, as used in the planning stage of a hydropower plant project in Turkey, which helped the project company to check project viability against some predefined critical success factors, define the risk sharing scenarios under which a project becomes viable, incorporate risks into cash flow analysis and, finally, define effective risk mitigation strategies. Key challenges in the realization of BOT projects, particularly in developing countries, are discussed together with possible risk sharing principles between the private and public sector participants.     

Optimizing Brazil's regulated electricity market in the context of time-of-use rates and prosumers with energy storage systems

The modeling of the regulated electricity market is essential since it allows the calculation of optimal rates by the regulatory agency, resulting in maximum socioeconomic welfare. Besides that, it is also possible to predict consumer behavior based on socioeconomic models. Therefore, under rate readjustments, energy shifting can be estimated and encouraged by the regulatory agency. This paper proposes major modifications to the optimized tariff model, originally developed for constant rates and grids without distributed energy resources, to model static time-of-use rates, distributed generation, and energy storage, enabling regulated electricity market optimization.     

Satisfaction Levels and the Community’s Attitudes Towards Urban Renewal in Alexandra, Johannesburg

In South Africa, the spatial legacy of Apartheid has resulted in township areas that can be recognised as intense concentrations of poverty. Variations in the types of housing, often dominated by informal structures and overcrowded conditions, are characteristic of these areas. As such, they are generally perceived as areas of limited economic potential. In response to these conditions and in an attempt to alleviate the associated problems, the African National Congress government has initiated an Urban Renewal Programme in eight nodes in six urban areas in the country. Alexandra in Johannesburg is one of these nodes. The programme and service delivery in this township is a controversial issue that reached boiling point during instances of civil unrest in 2011. The renewal programme entails the demolition of housing units, the relocation of the inhabitants, as well as the expropriation of properties for redevelopment by the developers. This perception study on the success rate of the renewal programme was conducted in four sectors of Alexandra, namely East Bank, River Park, Tsutsumani and Tswe??tla, each with its own housing and socio-economic characteristics. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of the Urban Renewal Programme as perceived by the inhabitants in the delivery of public services such as sanitation, water supply and electricity, and the provision of housing, health facilities, educational and recreational facilities. On the visual front, the programme appears to be meeting with success, particularly in terms of the provision of housing. The beneficiaries, however, are generally of the opinion that management and/or the government is not making enough of an effort to meet their expectations.     

Household electricity demand in Latin America and the Caribbean: A meta-analysis of price elasticity

Studying the price elasticity of demand is essential when considering rate policies in the electricity sector. This research aims to perform a meta-analysis and a meta-regression of the price elasticity of electricity demand for the residential sector in Latin American and Caribbean countries. Results show that the true value of the short-term price elasticity is between −0.197 and −0.468 and, for the long-term, is between −0.252 and −0.331. Findings differ substantially when studies are classified by their quality in econometric procedures. The long-term price elasticity seems to be lower than estimates found for other regions.     

The wind power potential of the eastern Mediterranean region of Turkey

The wind energy potential in the eastern Mediterranean region has been investigated using hourly wind data taken from seven stations during 1992-2001 periods by the Turkish Meteorological Service. The present work suggests that in the east Mediterranean Sea coast of Turkey, wind energy sources are convenient for electricity generation. The mean power density was determined as 500 W/m² in many areas of this region at 25 m from the ground level. The most promising locations in terms of wind power generation are identified. The contours of constant wind speed and power potential could lead the private power developers to decide the locations of appropriate wind farms.     

电力用户提高功率因数效益分析

通过实例说明电容补偿的原理和补偿容量的确定,分析了电力用户安装电容补偿装置,提高功率因数产生的经济效益,指出进行无功补偿提高功率因数对用电企业的重要意义.且安装电容补偿装置是一项重要的降损节能措施.     

非铸铁检查井盖在市政工程的应用

市政工程中井盖的经常被盗已成为一种社会公害,因此研究和开发具有防盗功能的井盖就引起了社会各界越来越多的关注。本文介绍了近年来研究开发并得到广泛应用的非铸铁检查井盖,并对其各自的优、缺点作了一些分析和比较。