Public Power Distribution and Transformer Management

Using GIS: A Case Study of Power Holding Company of

Nigeria (PHCN), Ikeja- Lagos, Nigeria
Godwin EKOP (Correspondence Author)
Department of Geography, University of Lagos, Akoka Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria, 101017
: +234-802-8386404 E-mails: gekop@unilag.edu.ng, gekope@ yahoo.co.uk
Samsideen ALAMU
Department of Geography, University of Lagos, Akoka Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria, 101017
:+234-805-353-6389. E-mails: abayomialamu@gmail.com
Received: 24 January, 2011

Accepted: 30 July, 2012

ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is primarily to assess the use of Geographic Information
Systems (GIS) as a tool to manage electricity distribution transformer. The problem
of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) cannot be totally attributed to
power generation only but the proper management of the distribution sector which
can be vital in the utilization of the existing electricity power generated. The
knowledge of location of PHCN facilities gives the distribution management a view
of what is where and the demand of various areas. The study is aimed at examining
electricity distribution transformers belonging to PHCN and consumers location
within the study area. Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and study area maps were
used to determine the location of electricity distribution transformers, while data on
housing were registered on the map created from Ikonnos Satellite image. The study
was able to ascertain the actual number of electricity distribution transformers
within the study area and indicated that there was a cluster of electricity distribution
transformers at the Commercial Avenue of Ikeja. The study demonstrated that the
electricity distribution transformers within the study area were not over utilized.
Rather, some of the electricity distribution transformers were tending to be over
utilized if there was a drop in load being supplied.
KEYWORDS: Power Distribution, Management, GIS, Lagos

INTRODUCTION
Various electricity companies worldwide adopt various methods to reduce losses.
These losses are either technical or commercial. Technical losses are experienced
when there is equipment failure, while commercial losses are related to losses
experienced when power is actually supplied and not paid for (Ofuah, 1998). This

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research is more concerned with the technical losses experienced by the electricity
distribution transformer.
The Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), formerly the National Electric
Power Authority (NEPA), is the organization in charge of electricity in Nigeria. The
facilities of the company are presented in Fig. 1. Over the years, the general public
has been informed that the electricity power generation was the problem of the
power sector in Nigeria. PHCN has failed in meeting up the demand for electricity
power by the general public. The country is experiencing poor power generation in
the electricity sector. According to Aronoff (1989), this does not imply that the little
generated electricity power cannot serve the public, efficient management of the
little electricity generated can be delivered to attain a sustainable distribution of
electricity power.

Fig. 1:- PHCN Facilities in Nigeria (Generation and Transmission Sector)

(Source: NEPA, 2010)

The use of satellite imagery data to create maps that would show this network of
electricity supply; and cadastre map to show landed properties give a district
electricity manager an added advantage in taking necessary decisions . Most of the
electrical network / equipment have a geographical location. In the management of
electricity distribution transformer, information must be collected and analysed.
Such information contributes not only to efficient services, but also to the operation
and maintenance of assets. The creation of maps with the kind of information stated
above would be a herculean task that is why the research would cover two feeders
supplying Allen Avenue as a district in Ikeja.
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This study is focused on the distribution sector of Electricity Company and the use
of GIS as a tool to assist in the management of electricity distribution transformers.
Geographic Information Systems was used to analyse a complete electrical network
system including low voltage system and customer supply points. GIS which is an
information system that is designed to solve geographic problems (DeMers, 2005)
was used to assist managers of electricity sector to take critical operational and
strategic decisions.
In this research therefore, we focus on the distribution of electricity transformers
belonging to Power Holding Company of Nigeria relative to consumer locations
within Ikeja Lagos Feeder. The study ascertains the locations of transformers and
evaluates the types and capacities of the facilities, the buildings being served and
optimization of the facilities in the area. This study therefore establishes the need for
adequate power facility (transformer) management measures in distributing power in
the study area.

THE STUDY AREA

The study area shown in Fig. 2 lies between 538,600E to 549,000E, and 729000N to
730400N (UTM Zone 31). The size of the study area was based on the coverage of
the two feeders which spread over the study area and this was approximated to be
about 1.5km2. The study area covers the full extent of Allen Avenue (from Allen
Round About to Toyin Street Round About) and other minor streets east and west of
the Avenue. This is due to the network coverage of the two feeders under study. The
two feeders emanated from Ikeja 132kV (step down) substation. At the other side of
ObafemiAwolowo Road the station supplies 33kV and 11kV to the public. The ward
L3 has a total of ten feeders supplying 11kV from three different injection stations.

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Fig. 1:The Study Area in Ikeja LGA, Lagos, Nigeria

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METHODLOGY
The use of field observation and Interview techniques were adopted for this research.
The use of personal interview was directed at PHCN Personnel to understand the
intricate design of PHCN power distribution network. While hand-held GPS was
used to acquire positions of transformers.
For buildings, maps were produced with street names and layout of plots where
street numbers and building types were registered on map. As shown in Table 1, a
building was classified based on PHCN classification namely:
Point Load (Maximum Demand Customers): These are consumers with personal
transformers that consume electricity as either Commercial or Residential. They are
assigned the code PL for reconnaissance survey map registration.
Commercial (Non- Maximum Demand Customers): These are consumers that are
connected to the public transformers but use electricity for commercial purposes.
They are assigned the code C for reconnaissance survey map registration.
Residential (Non- Maximum Demand Customers): These are consumers that are
connected to the public transformers but use electricity for residential purposes.
They are assigned the code R for reconnaissance survey map registration.
Residential/ Commercial (Non- Maximum Demand Customers): These are
buildings with dual functionalities. These are buildings with both commercial and
residential functions and are connected to the public transformers. They are assigned
the code RC for reconnaissance survey map.
Table 1: The Data collected on the building and customers
(a) Data on Transformer Type and capacity
Transformer type Feeder name Capacity (KVA)
Public
Allen
200
Private
Ogundana
300

Northings
730072
730027

Eastings
538741
538769

(b) Transformer data collected from PHCN [2007]

Transformer Capacity Load in Voltage-KV
Current output
Age Name
Feeder
type
(MVA) (MVA)
Ratio
(Amp)
Public
0.5
3
11/0.415
11 Allen I
1,042.5
Allen
Private
0.2
2.5
11/0.415
4
Allen II
417
Ogundana
(c) Demand and Output of distribution transformer database
Type Capacity (KV) Feeder
Name Load (w/hr) Output (w/hr) Demand (w/hr)
2 Public
500
Allen
Allen 1 3000000
1737500
583500
3 Public
500
Allen
Allen 3 3000000
1737500
650050
4 Public
300
Allen
Adeleke 3000000
1042500
148400
5 Public
300
Ogundana Solanke 2500000
1042500
119100

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(d)The Transformer Types and Building consumption Data sheet

Building
Transformer Transformer Max. Unit Level Meter Consumption
Address* Type
Identity
Identity
type
Consumed
unit
W/hr
H1 Allen
1
C
2
Public
3,500
3
6
21,000
Avenue
H2 Allen
7
R
2
Public
2,000
2
1
2,000
Avenue
H3 Allen
3
C
2
Public
3,500
2
4
14,000
Avenue
H4, Allen
9
PL
1
Private
7,000
7
14
98,000
Avenue
Source: PHCN Transformer Inventory 2006; It is disallowed to reveal more details of the
customers identities

Some orthophotos and images were collected as shown in Table 2. The conversion
of Ortho-photo map sheet 538729 and sheet 538730 into Raster format using
Hewlett Packard (hp) design jet 815mfp scanner. The scanned maps were georeferenced using Autodesk 2006 Raster extension on Autodesk Map 3D. Arc-View
3.3 was used to convert raster data format to vector format, by means of heads up
digitizing. Raw data descriptions were converted to digital format using MS Access
as an external database.
Table 2: Data sources and characteristics
(a) Maps and Images
Data type
Description
Hard copy with street names;
Orthophoto Sheet Nos 538729 and
538730
Ikonos Multispectral satellite
Satellite
image 3bands; Enhanced
image
Compressed Wavelet
(b) Fieldworks
Data
Transformers

Feeders
Buildings
Roads

Source
Lagos State
Surveyor General
Office.
LSPDA

Spatial Data
Use of GPS for vector data
capture. Ground survey for
attribute data collection
Use of GPS for vector data
capture.
Use of ground survey for
collection of attribute data.
Use of ground survey for
collection of attribute data.

Acquired

Scale

1985

1:2000

January,
2005

Spatial
resolution
3.28m

Non-Spatial Data
PHCN transformer inventory for
attribute data collection
PHCN feeder inventory for attribute
data collection
Use of Satellite Imagery and existing
maps sourced from data vendor
Use of existing maps sourced from data
vendor.

Data collected from field survey were combined with inventoried information of
respective entities. Identification of keys for data modelling in each of the various
tables was done. The data were integrated in GIS environment with attribute data
stored in an MS Access database and linked to respective objects.
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The data collected from PHCN and data acquired by the use of GPS were used to
ascertain the actual number of electricity distribution transformers within the study
area. Calculation of distributional pattern was done using the Model builder in
ArcMap to derive the nearest neighbour value; the average nearest neighbour tool in
analysing Pattern toolbox was an extension of ArcMap spatial statistics tool which
was used to derive R value. Euclidean distance method as-the-crow-flies was used
to determine the respective straight line distances between pairs of the transformers.
As shown in Fig. 3, these were combined to determine R (the average nearest
neighbourhood ratio was determined thereafter as:

rA
rE

(1)

where rA = observed mean distance; rE = Expected mean distance; Nearest

Neighbour Ratio (NNRatio):- R)

Fig. 3: The Arc Map Toolbox Model for the Average Nearest Neighbour analysis
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Table 3 and Table 4 summarise the transformers inventoried for the study. They are
presented spatially in Fig. 4. Overall, there were 69 transformers established for the
geographical area of 1.5km2. The results indicated that 12 of them were not
accounted for on the field including 2 public transformers and 10 private
transformers.
Table 3: Transformers within the study area
PHCN
Field
Feeder
Type
Difference
Inventory observation
Public
7
9
2
Allen
Private
24
32
8
Total
31
41
10
Public
8
8
Nil
Ogundana Private
18
20
2
Total
26
28
2
Grand Total
57
69
12
Sources: PHCN (2006) and Fieldworks (2010).

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Table 4: Capacities and Types of transformers within the study area

Capacity (KVA) Private Public Total
500
4
10
14
300
12
6
18
200
28
1
29
100
7
0
7
75
1
0
1
Total
52
17
69
Sources: PHCN (2006) and Fieldworks (2010).

The value of R is determined as 0.57 and the Z score is -6.8. Respectively, these
indicated that the nearest neighbourhood ratio had a random cluster chance and was
statistically significant. They were mostly clustered around the commercial activity
area at Allen Avenue.
Fourteen of the transformers (including 4 private and 10 public) were of 500KVA
capacity, 18(12 private and 6 public) were 300KVA capacity while 29, 7 and 1 were
200KVA, 100KVA and 75KVA respectively. The capacity of the transformers (Fig.
5) was compared with the number of houses being served (Fig. 6) as against the
Optimized Demand and Output (Fig. 7). Table 5 shows the number of public
electricity transformers and the number of houses they were serving. The 17 public
transformers were serving a total number of seven hundred and fourteen buildings.
The transformer with Identity 3 had the largest number of building under it within
a value of Seventy eight buildings. It was also identified as the problematic
transformer by the PHCN distribution management.

Transformer ID
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
62
Total

Table 5: Transformer optimization

Feeder
No of Buildings Served Transformer Capacity
Allen
65
500
Allen
78
500
Allen
36
300
Ogundana
20
300
Allen
33
500
Allen
50
500
Allen
23
300
Allen
35
500
Allen
47
500
Allen
44
500
Ogundana
59
500
Ogundana
34
200
Ogundana
56
500
Ogundana
41
500
Ogundana
32
300
Ogundana
37
300
Ogundana
25
300
714
Sources: PHCN, 2006 and Fieldwork,2010.

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Fig. 4: Transformers within the Area

Fig. 5: Capacities of the Transformers

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Fig. 5: The Building attached to the transformers

Fig. 6: The Optimized Transformer Demand and Output

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The effectiveness of any distribution system is to be able to state the relationship

between consumer demand and output of the system. The seventeen public
transformers were serving different category of consumers, so their demand for
electricity power would differ. It was noted that all 500Kilovolt capacity
transformers had an output of 1737kw/h distributed to consumers while 300Kilovolt
capacity transformers dispensed 1042kw/h and the 200Kilovolt capacity transformer
dispensed 695Kw/h.
The maximum demand was 65Kw/h which was the transformer with the highest
value of buildings or consumers (Transformer Identity 3). The minimum demand
was 0.119Kw/h where weight was assigned to transformer to depict the rate of
output and demand respectively. The Table value for output and demand in Table 5
was used while the count rendering tool in ArcGIS was used to render the
transformer to give a related value to it.
The very essence of GIS is to aid in the art or science of decision making. Art in the
sense that GIS involves usage of maps as graphical model of the real world, while
the science involves the analysis done within the database to give various
perspectives to the problem. The study focused on the use of GIS as a tool in the
management of electricity distribution transformer which is an aspect of the
numerous component of electricity network. Electricity network is one of the most
complex networks to study because of the numerous sections and facilities involved
and spread over a large area. Distribution transformers are the closest facilities to the
general public which are being monitored and managed by Local Distribution
Company (under the PHCN).The success of this company would depend largely on
the knowledge of assets available within their area. This study relates the use of GIS
as a tool for easy decision making and planning.

CONCLUSION
This study was able to detect the number of transformers within the study area which
were sixty nine (69) in all and also determined the following information;
ownership, capacity, utilization and location of transformer. Transformer Ownership
within the study area is both public and private, while public transformers were
seventeen (17), the privately owned transformers were fifty two (52).
The study also indicated the spread of Allen and Ogundana feeders within the study
area. The location of distribution transformers under Allen and Ogundana feeders
were also indicated. The study also indicated that the cluster of electricity
transformers around Allen Avenue can be attributed to the demand by consumers.
The study was able to show the coverage and optimization of public transformers,
which also indicated that the transformers were not over utilized. Also, the coverage

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of these transformers indicated the number of buildings that would be affected if a

transformer is faulty as well as the nearest transformer which could provide backup.
The research has been able to prove the usefulness of GIS as a tool that can assist the
electricity power authority personnel in taking vital decisions. There is the need
therefore to train Power Holding Company of Nigeria Personnel on how to use GIS
as a decision making support tool. The present customer care service centre of Power
Holding Company of Nigeria should adopt the use of GIS as a medium to assist in
proper allocation of their duties. This is expected to reduce the problem of location
of customers and electricity facilities under their jurisdiction. The tool is equally
recommended to be used in determining possible locations for new electricity
transformers.
The uniqueness that GIS possess in the registration of spatial object by allowing the
creation of attribute database and ability to link to external database makes it a
preferable tool compared to other network monitoring tools. If PHCN desires to
satisfy the demand of electricity by Nigerians, then it must be ready to follow in the
footsteps of advanced electricity power companies that have adopted the use of GIS
in electricity demand management by simulating demand data on a GIS platform to
identify areas with potential high demand and proffer possible solutions.
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