Physical Science International Journal

The persistent trend of rationing power supply to consumers by the power industry in Nigeria has become a major setback to industrial, social and economic development of the country. This study analysis the viability of protective relay coordination and energy losses in North Central States of Nigeria, using the Electronics Workbench Tracker. The Tracker records the time of incidence, the restoration time, the date, nature of tripping, weather condition, and the load interrupted. Then by separating the tripping into forced, planed and emergency outages the data was analyzed to determine the equipment outages, Feeders interruption period, load and energy losses for the North Central States of Nigeria. Results shows that a total of 457 outages were recorded for the seven central state of Nigeria and the order of interruption outage is NAF (220) > KGF (196) > ABF (27) > PLF (8) > NIF (3) > BEF (2) > KWF (1). Total outage duration was 1,693.16HR with lower durations experienced in KWF, BEF and NIF, while high durations were experienced in NAF and KGF. Total load loss was 3,275.60MW corresponding to total energy loss of 9,359.87MWH. Out of the total outages, 67.40% (308) were due to forced (faults) outage, 26.70% (122) were on emergency outages while only 5.90% (27) were due to planned (maintenance) outages. Out of the total energy loss, losses due to forced outage was 8,365.87MWH, emergency outage with 833.63MWH, and planned outage with 160.37MWH. High energy losses due to forced (faults) outage implies low standard power equipment and poor network maintenance as show from high outage durations especially in NAF and KGF. The findings provided valuable insights into energy losses pattern on  power  network in North Central Nigeria,  highlight the importance of improving line and equipment maintenance to enhance power supply, especially in NAF and KGF areas which  will  be  beneficial  for  policymakers,  utility  providers, energy sector and stakeholders. Power industries must invest in improving their network infrastructure, strategically plant poles and consider environmental factors that may affect electricity supply for ultimately improving power distribution efficiency.