Status of Load Research in B&H

Different models for consumer clustering, load profiling, loss allocation, and estimation have been developed and are commonly used in electric utilities of developed countries. However, until now, electric utilities from developing countries, including BiH, have not paid attention to Load Research in detail. The reasons for this lack of attention are multifaceted. Economic and/or political reasons, later electricity market opening, and the fact that electric utilities are not competitive have all contributed to the neglect of Load Research. Additionally, the existence of enough network capacity, a smaller number of consumers, and consumers not being an active part of the electric energy sector have also played a role. Furthermore, customers have accepted tariffs without questioning their cost causation, and there is a lack of data about real consumers' behavior for research purposes. The information available to utilities about consumers is limited. For high-voltage (HV), medium-voltage (MV), and low-voltage (LV) consumers, data includes consumer attributes, monthly energy consumption from billing files, and real-time measurement of peak power. However, for LV consumers, real-time information is very limited and usually not available. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, power system measurement is categorized by consumer type and voltage level. Consumers at the 110 kV and higher voltage levels have their active and reactive energy measured, as well as their power. Consumers at the 35 kV and 10 kV levels also have their active and reactive energy measured, but not their power. Consumers at the 0.4 kV level, which includes households, have their active energy measured, but not their reactive energy or power. The number of consumers in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2009 was significant, with 1,312,034 consumers in total. The majority of consumers, 99.9%, were at the 0.4 kV level. Energy consumption in BiH in 2009 was also substantial, with 6,134,437 MWh of active energy consumed at the 0.4 kV level, accounting for 61.5% of the total energy consumption. The distribution network capacity is defined by power, and consumers at the LV level comprise a significant part of consumers in the distribution network, contributing to total energy consumption and peak power of the system. The number of consumers in BiH in 2009 was broken down by category, with households accounting for 44% of total energy consumption and public lighting accounting for 1.7%.