Prioritization of electricity loss factors by combining analytic hierarchy process and TOPSIS (Case study: Southern Kerman Power Distribution Company)

From the viewpoint of electricity distribution companies, electricity losses are the difference between the delivered energy and the output energy, or in other words, the difference between the energy purchased and the energy sold. Electricity statistics in Iran show a share of about 23 percent of electricity losses, half of which are related to the distribution network. Electricity distribution losses fall into two categories: technical losses and non-technical losses. Technical losses are the part of the losses that occur due to the nature of the equipment in the distribution network. In contrast, non-technical losses are the total loss of electricity that is not due to the electrical nature of the network. Due to the importance of different types of electricity losses, a lot of research has been done in this field in order to reduce these losses as much as possible. However, little research has been conducted on prioritizing waste reduction strategies. Electricity losses in Jiroft City, Kerman province are a concern for Southern Kerman Power Distribution Company as they lead to financial losses and reduce the company’s revenue. According to the received statistics, the energy delivered to this city in 2018 was 1005 million kilowatts, while the sales of the company in this city was 854 million kilowatts. Therefore, the amount of electricity losses in this city is 141 million kilowatts, which is equal to 15% of the delivered energy. Therefore, this company needs to prioritize these factors in order to focus and address the main causes of losses in this city. As a result, this study aims to prioritize the causes of electricity losses in Jiroft City. In this paper, by using previous research and interviews with experts in this field, the main criteria involved in decision making were identified, and they were then were weighted using analytical hierarchical process method. Then, the causes of power losses were identified using the documents of the company, and the effective factors were prioritized according to the weighted criteria using the TOPSIS method. The results showed that, in Jiroft City, among the factors of technical losses, the losses of meters and measuring devices and the losses due to the unbalanced load in phases and single-phase distribution of low pressure were in the first and second priority, respectively. Unauthorized use of electricity in hidden manner was also recognized as the most important cause of non-technical losses in this case study.