Seminar Presentation

ELECTRICAL POWER THEFT DETECTION

Akhlesh Kumar
Jindal
13085008
B.Tech. (Part-4 )

Introduction

Electricity theft is at the centre of focus all over the world but electricity theft in
India has a significant effect on the Indian economy, as this figure is considerably
high.

It is the use of electrical power without a contract with a supplier with total or
partial bypassing metering system.

According to study conducted in 2015 by the Northeast Group, LLC, the world loses
US$89.3 billion annually to electricity theft. The highest losses were in India ($16.2
billion), followed by Brazil ($10.5 billion) and Russia ($5.1 billion).

Common Power theft includes:

- Direct hooking/tapping from line
- Bypassing the energy meter
- Injecting foreign element into the energy meter
- Physical obstruction etc.

Non technical solution to reduce electricity theft

Financial rewards: Utility companies encourage consumer to report electricity
theft , sometimes offering big reward for information leading to conviction of
anyone stealing electricity. Unfortunately most cases are unidentified.
Periodic check: Electricity theft frequently takes place after service has been
disconnected. Some utility companies periodically check disconnected meters if
the customer has not contacted them to reconnect service.
Meter readers: Utility meter readers typically suspect that electricity theft is
taking place when they find a broken meter tag or other signs of tampering. But
as more utility companies outsource the meter reading function to third parties,
training meter readers to detect theft is becoming more difficult and less
efficient.

Detection of an unauthorized tapping on

distribution lines.

Figure 1: Conceptual diagram [1]

L1, L2
Single phase loads
M1, M2 Digital energy meters
P Pole based system (installed on a
distribution pole)

Figure 2: Load side energy meter [1]

Figure 3: Pole based system [1]

Algorithm
Digital energy meter (M1) will measure a consumed power by load (L1) over a
period. It will send a data in proportion with consumed power to receiver with the
help of wireless digital data transmitter. Receiver on the pole system will receive a
data sent by transmitter in a load side meter. Receiver will send it to
microcontroller.

Also energy meter on pole will measure power sent over line1 and provide
appropriate data to microcontroller. Now microcontroller has two readings one is
power calculated on pole itself and another is power consumed by load (L1).

Suppose there is tapping done by any unauthorized person on the line to connect
his appliance as shown in previous figure . Over a certain period there will be
difference between meter reading (M1) and pole based reading.

Continued
Microcontroller will compare these two values and if the measured value on pole is more
than value send by meter (M1) by some tolerance then power theft is happening on line1.
This theft signal generated on pole system can be transmitted to substation by power line
communication technique or by wireless technique whichever is suitable an economical.
Tolerance should be provided for losses of line. Because over a long period there will be
difference in reading of meter on load side and pole side due to loss of line between pole and
load.

Figure 4: Power theft detection [1][2]

Psent = Pconsumed + Loss ..No Theft

Psent Pconsumed + Loss ..Theft Occur

Detection of modifications made in energy

meter

In this technique the radio communication principles are employed and also the
technology of Microcontrollers is utilized to find out the user trying for pilferage
of power i.e., by displaying the respective consumer meter number and address.
For the complete operation, the system can be sub-divided into two major
sections, one is the transmitting section and the other is the receiving section.
The transmitting section has to be incorporated at the consumers end and the
receiver section has to be placed at the electrical sub-station.

Components of Transmitter Section

LDR : It is configured in mono stable mode using IC 555 timer. Thus as long as the light
does not fall on the LDR, the output of the timer is at low state. Whenever the energy
meter is opened or tampered, the light falls on LDR. This makes the resistance of the LDR
to fall to a low value of less than 500ohms from high value of more than 100Kohms.
Tone generator : It generates a modulating signal. The frequency of tone generator differs
from one energy consumer to the other. The frequencies are allocated according to the
energy consumers identification code.
F.M. radio transmitter : An F.M Transmitter is used with a carrier of 100 MHz. Here, the
modulating input is superimposed over the carrier and is transmitted.

Components of Receiver Section

F.M.Radio receiver : It receives the signal. Received signal is demodulated
Signal amplifier : The detected signal of the FM receiver is fed to the amplifier, which
amplifies the signal.
Frequency to Voltage converter: Frequency to voltage converter circuit converts the input
frequency into output D.C voltage. The output voltage has low distortion. The D.C output
voltage, which is proportional to the tone frequency, is fed to the analog to digital
converter block.
A/D Converter : It is used to convert the output of frequency to voltage converter, which
is an analog voltage, into an output binary word that can be used by a Microcontroller.
For monitoring and displaying of meter tampering (consumer number and address can be
displayed on the LCD display which is connected at the output of Microcontroller)
assembly language is used.

Block Diagram

Figure 5: Transmitter section [3]

Figure 6: Receiver section [3]

ADVANTAGES:
The system consumes very little power for its operation.
System operation is independent of time (24 hours functioning).
Automatic user identification.
LIMITATIONS:
Wide range of frequencies is required to facilitate large number of users. To overcome
this, carrier levels can be changed from region to region.
APPLICATIONS:
The system can be incorporated for almost all types of users.
The concept is well suited especially for villages and interior areas.

Conclusions

By using these techniques the crime of stealing power may be brought to

an end.
With the implementation of this kind of systems in the real time, power
can be supplied at the economical rates, thereby improving the economy of
the country.

References
1. M.A.O liveira and C.C. Barioni, Technical loss calculation by distribution system
segment with corrections
from measurements, Proc.20th international Conference and Exhibition on
Electricity Distribution, Prague, Czech Republic, June 2009, pp. 14.
2. C.L.Wadhwa, Electrical Power Systems, 4 th ed, New Age International
Publishers, 2005.
3. C. J. Bandim, E. R. Alves ., A. V. Pinto, F. C. Souza, M. R. B. Loureiro, C. A.
Magalhges and F. Galvez-Durand, Identification of Energy Theft and Tampered
Meters Using a Central Observer Meter: A Mathematical Approach, Transmission
and distribution conference and exposition, 2003 IEEE PES, vol. 1, pp. 163168,2003.

Thank You!