Effects of Village Power Quality on Fuel Consumption and Operating Expenses

Alaska's rural village electric utilities are isolated from the Alaska railbelt electrical grid intertie and from each other. Different strategies have been developed for providing power to meet demand in each of these rural communities. Many of these communities rely on diesel electric generators (DEGs) for power. Some villages have also installed renewable power sources and automated generation systems for controlling the DEGs and other sources of power. For example, Lime Village has installed a diesel battery photovoltaic hybrid system, Kotzebue and Wales have wind-diesel hybrid systems, and McGrath has installed a highly automated system for controlling diesel generators. Poor power quality and diesel engine efficiency in village power systems increases the cost of meeting the load. Power quality problems may consist of poor power factor (PF) or waveform disturbances, while diesel engine efficiency depends primarily on loading, the fuel type, the engine temperature, and the use of waste heat for nearby buildings. These costs take the form of increased fuel use, increased generator maintenance, and decreased reliability. With the cost of bulk fuel in some villages approaching $1.32/liter ($5.00/gallon) a modest 5% decrease in fuel use can result in substantial savings with short payback periods depending on the village's load profile and the cost of corrective measures. This project over its five year history has investigated approaches to improving power quality and implementing fuel savings measures through the use of performance assessment software tools developed in MATLAB{reg_sign} Simulink{reg_sign} and the implementation of remote monitoring, automated generation control, and the addition of renewable energy sources in select villages. The results have shown how many of these communities would benefit from the use of automated generation control by implementing a simple economic dispatch scheme and the integration of renewable energy sources such as wind generation