Load Diversity-Its Role in Power System Utilization

Utilization of load diversity between power systems can result primarily in 1) a savings in capacity requirements as a result of reduced generating-capacity needs, and 2) a reduction in daily operating costs as a result of economy energy transactions between load areas and lowered spinning-reserve requirements (startup and shutdown costs). However, the arithmetic difference between simultaneous and nonsimultaneous load data is not proof that this total diversity can be used to reduce the cost of service. This paper examines the many factors which must be taken into consideration when evaluating the use of both annual and daily diversity.