Monitoring technical losses to improve non-technical losses estimation and detection in LV distribution systems

The process of mitigating non-technical losses (NTL) in power distribution utilities is done in two stages. The first determines which distribution transformers have high NTL values. The second attempts to locate fraudulent consumers, powered by these transformers. This paper proposes a new methodology to improve the calculation of technical losses (TL), leading to a better estimation of the NTL, using temperature sensors. It is also presented a new process to identify possible energy theft locations using voltage drop differences. The identification of possible energy pilfering spots is done with the aid of the measurement of technical losses obtained in the first stretches of the low voltage network, near the transformer, where the TL is more significant. A Backward/Forward Sweep algorithm using the power summation technique is used to calculate the voltage drops in two situations: with power data read only from the smart meters and power data including the TL readings. An analysis of the differences in voltage drop at each point between the two situations makes it possible to locate the probable energy thief. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.