Explore the vast range of titles available.

Purpose This study aims to investigate the impact of the 2013 privatization of Nigeria’s energy sector on the technical performance of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) and its workforce. Design/methodology/approach This study used a questionnaire-based approach, and 196 participants were randomly selected. Analytical tools included standard deviation, Spearman rank correlation and regression analysis. Findings Before privatization, the energy sector, managed by the power holding company of Nigeria, suffered from inefficiencies in fault detection, response and billing. However, privatization improved resource utilization, replaced outdated transformers and increased operational efficiency. However, in spite of these improvements, BEDC faces challenges, including unstable voltage generation and inadequate staff welfare. This study also highlighted a lack of experience among the trained workforce in emerging electricity technologies such as the smart grid. Research limitations/implications This study’s focus on BEDC may limit its generalizability to other energy companies. It does not delve into energy sector privatization’s broader economic and policy implications. Practical implications The positive outcomes of privatization, such as improved resource utilization and infrastructure investment, emphasize the potential benefits of private ownership and management. However, voltage generation stability and staff welfare challenges call for targeted interventions. Recommendations include investing in voltage generation enhancement, smart grid infrastructure and implementing measures to enhance employee well-being through benefit plans. Social implications Energy sector enhancements hold positive social implications, uplifting living standards and bolstering electricity access for households and businesses. Originality/value This study contributes unique insights into privatization’s effects on BEDC, offering perspectives on preprivatization challenges and advancements. Practical recommendations aid BEDC and policymakers in boosting electricity distribution firms’ performance within the privatization context.

Electricity theft is a notable aspect of power distribution utilities due to advance in the non‐technical loss. It results imbalance between power supply and demand. It consequence overload of the distribution network and extraneous tariff invoke on legally connected consumers. The advance metering infrastructure is useful for an energy audit of every distribution transformer due to a communication facility. However, direct hooking on distribution overhead line or tapping from underground cables remains an interminable issue which has to be rigorously decimated. The objective of this study is to present real‐time electricity theft detection and prevention scheme (ETDPS) with the available infrastructure in the field. The proposed ETDPS is based on programmable logic control; it identifies the pilferage locations and estimates the power stolen by illegal consumers. The prototype is tested in the laboratory and the results demonstrate that the ETDPS works satisfactorily under diversified operating conditions. The proposed scheme is implemented as a part of their Smart City Pilot Project by Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited, Nagpur (India) and the performance demonstrates its feasibility.

Electricity theft has become a matter of trouble for both customers and electricity distribution companies. Due to electricity theft, distribution companies are facing lots of T&D losses every year. Despite of several technical measures adopted, there is no significant reduction in losses due to electricity theft. This fact diverts the attention towards non-technical measures which include formulation and enforcement of stringent rules and regulations. As the policies need to be enforced on electricity customers, therefore, policies should be designed in accordance with the customers’ attitude towards electricity theft. Therefore, this work has analyzed their attitude towards role of certain socio-economic factors which strongly impact the practice of electricity theft. This study has surveyed the electricity customers of two distribution companies, UHBVN and DHBVN in State Haryana. The findings of this work may help the electricity distribution companies to chalk out better and more effective plans to put check upon the practice of electricity theft in the society.

Frequent power outages and general electricity problems from the national grid in Nigeria have significantly increased in the last 5 years, and these are part of the reasons why many Small and Medium Enterprises in Lagos State, Nigeria find it difficult to survive and some have already folded up. Consequently, some Small and Medium Enterprises have relocated to other places, whilst others have resorted to the use of some alternative means of energy as backup facilities (inclusive of generating sets, and solar energy) to reduce the negative effect of frequent power outages from the national grid. Based on the foregoing, the aim of the study is to investigate whether Small and Medium Enterprises in Lagos State, Nigeria have considered solar energy as an alternative means of energy, find out whether Small and Medium Enterprises in Lagos State, Nigeria prefer solar energy to electricity from the national grid, and to also identify the determinants of use of solar energy as an alternative means of energy by Small and Medium Enterprises in Lagos State, Nigeria. The study covered selected Small and Medium Enterprises in Lagos State, Nigeria and primary data were generated from direct distribution of questionnaires to six hundred (600) qualified Small and Medium Enterprises in Lagos State. Using Descriptive Statistics and Binary Logistic Regression Model to analyze data generated from the questionnaires, the study affirmed that general cost of electricity from the national grid, poor organizational processes and procedures of Electricity Distribution Companies as well as policy support for solar energy by the government were major determinants of use of solar energy as an alternative means of power by Small and Medium Enterprises in Lagos State, Nigeria. However, the findings from the study indicate that poor customer services of Electricity Distribution Companies, inadequate access to electricity facilities of Electricity Distribution Companies, and frequent power outages were not major determinants of use of solar energy as an alternative means of energy by Small and Medium Enterprises in Lagos State, Nigeria as at the time of the research. Consequently, this study recommends that Electricity Distribution Companies should improve their organizational processes and procedures. The study also recommends that cost of maintenance and replacement of major facilities like defective transformers should not be transferred to Small and Medium Enterprises (inclusive of other clients).

The optimization algorithms in electrical engineering present an important tool for improving the dynamic and static operation of electrical distribution networks (EDN) by supporting the regional operator system for distribution network reconfiguration with the presence of dispersed generation systems based on the PV and wind turbine hybrid system. The short circuit current, in particular of the phase-to-ground type, is the most prevalent and intense on the EDN and affects voltage stability and increases power losses. In this work, we propose a new optimization technique, the hybrid improved whale and sine cosine optimization algorithm, based on the randomly determined distance between each whale’s current position and the best position using probabilistic-based sine and cosine functions, to improve the balance between exploitation and exploration phases. The objectives implemented are to minimize total active power losses and maximize the voltage profile. Two test systems were conducted for this work: overhead and undergrounding 63 bus systems using private data on the algerian electricity and gas distribution company and verifying the effectiveness of the proposed method through its application in the IEEE 33 bus standard distribution system. We then compared the results obtained with the latest research.

The last fifteen years have seen Armenia emerge from Soviet rule and a severe economic and energy crisis, both complicated by its newfound political surroundings. The last ten years have seen significant reform and progress in the power sector which, when compared to the progress made by its neighbors, is all the more remarkable. The benefits of reform have not been easily won, however, and Armenia’s success is a tribute to its ability to learn from mistakes and persevere. A combination of improper planning and bad fortune forced the Government of Armenia to go through three separate tenders for its privatization assets. A combination of good planning and good fortune ultimately allowed for what has turned out to be one of the region’s most successful infrastructure privatizations so far.

Quasi-fiscal deficits of public utility companies are common in all member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). They constitute a significant impediment to efficient resource allocation and endanger macroeconomic stability. This paper presents a simple framework for measuring and monitoring such deficits and highlights their macroeconomic relevance. It reviews the progress under IMF conditionality aimed at correcting these imbalances during 1993-2003. The paper suggests that the extensive conditionality under the IMF-supported programs has yielded only limited progress in reducing the energy sector's financial imbalances. In conclusion, different policy options are discussed in light of the lessons learned.

'Does Private Sector Participation Improve Performance in Electricity and Water Distribution?' this question has proven deceptively difficult to answer in the context of utilities in developing economies. The authors examine the question of private versus public performance in a natural monopoly setting. They address the shortfalls of earlier research and arrive at fact-based conclusions that are robust globally. Using a data set of more than 1, 200 utilities in 71 developing and transition economies—the largest know data set in the area—this study finds that privately operated utilities convincingly outperform state-run ones in operational performance and labor productivity. This book compares the change over time in performance measures for the two groups of utilities and isolates the effect of private sector participation (PSP) from time trends and firm-specific characteristics. It accounts for ex-ante difference between state-owned enterprises that were selected for PSP and those that were not, and corrects for possible bias in the estimations induced by such differences. It distinguishes between full divestitures, partial divestitures, concessions, and lease and management contracts. The study finds no robust evidence of an increase in investment by either the public or private sectors, even if PSP leads to an increase in operational efficiency. Nor is there robust evidence of a change in average residential prices as a result of PSP. Given the well-documented underpricing of utility services in many developing countries, this result may reflect the economic and political difficulties of aligning tariffs with the costs of service provision. This book will be of interest to people involved in sector reform and infrastructure service delivery, in particular in developing countries.

The epileptic nature of electricity supply in Nigeria requires a pragmatic introduction of the interconnected minigrid system to increase the number of insufficient hours of supply to customers. This approach has not been widely adopted by the licensed electricity distribution companies and minigrid investors despite the economic potentials and efforts of Nigeria’s Rural Electrification Agency in supporting the deployment. This paper follows the history of electricity in Nigeria to the current post-power sector reforms era, reviews the minigrid operations and business models that investors and stakeholders could adopt for the successful deployment of interconnected minigrid. It also showcases some viable commercially operated minigrids in selected locations in Nigeria. Conclusively, the paper made some recommendations for the successful deployment of interconnected minigrids for underserved distribution networks to augment gaps created by inadequate hours of supply.