Electricity Losses Reduction Program, Cape Verde

CONTEXT

Energy losses were one of the most relevant constraints in the energy sector. The reduction in losses is one of the main objectives to be achieved in the next future, both by the Government and by ELECTRA, the national utility.

Energy losses were high in Cape Verde in 2013, with a country account of 38% energy loss, and the island of Santiago above the country averaging energy losses of 44%.

Gesto, as part of the “Energy Losses Reduction and Power Quality Improvement Program”, develop a Loss Reduction Campaign based on pilot projects in the city of Praia, which comprised:

• Field visits
• New processes and methodology
• Development of new techniques and implementation of new tools
• Capacity Building Sessions
• Loss measurement and identification technics and software

This project is part of the project “Energy Losses Reduction and Power Quality Improvement Program”, which consist of 8 projects, each targeting a different area with the objective to reduce energy losses and to improve its quality.

Resulting in a substantial reduction of energy losses on the city pilot sites (some sites registered a 60% reduction on energy losses).

OBJECTIVES

The overall objective of the project was to identify and control the non-technical energy losses at Praia, Santiago Island.

This was achieved with the creation of a multi-task team comprised of energy specialists of Gesto Energia that work together with ELECTRA. The main focus of the project was to ensure monitoring and reduction of energy losses, yet with the development of the project it became clear that to ensure long lasting results, for ELECTRA, new tools and capacity building would be crucial. Therefore Gesto developed an innovative methodology for loss analysis and control, which proved to be a game changer for ELECTRA and this methodology, is to this day used by ELECTRA’s Technical teams.

DESCRIPTION

This project had a challenging and complex objective. Loss reduction is not only a technical issue but also a cultural trait of Cape Verde due to their particular economic setting.

Gesto develop a unique methodology for the development of this project that focused on the main issues at hand, namely:

• Loss reduction was not clearly measured and managed before this project
• Technical teams and commercial staff lack know-how for loss reduction and client management

The multi-task energy expert team developed by Gesto for this project worked tirelessly in order to add value for ELECTRA during the project, developing:

• Field visits
• New processes and methodologies
• New techniques and implementing tool
• Building new capacity and new skills

The project resulted in the implementation of a new Loss Measurement Software and operational process that enhanced dramatically the performance of ELECTRA.

SUMMARY OF SERVICES

• Strategy definition and planning of the field works methodology to identify and dismantle illegal connections and metering frauds
• Coordination of field technical teams
• Creation of template reports
• ELECTRA internal capacity building and field teams training