International Journal of Engineering Research and Technology. ISSN 0974-3154, Volume 13, Number 11 (2020), pp. 3251-3254 © International Research Publication House. https://dx.doi.org/10.37624/IJERT/13.11.2020.3251-3254 3251 Losses in the Nigerian Distribution Systems: A review of classification and strategies for mitigation Orovwode Hope 1* , Matthew Simeon 2 , Amuta, Elizabeth 1 , Alashiri, Olaitan 1 1 Electrical and Information Engineering Department, Covenant University Ota, Nigeria. 2 Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria. Abstract Power Distribution systems are prone to losses, be it technical or non-technical. These losses affect the efficiency, revenue, and expansion capacity of the system among others. The losses are mitigate-able though cannot be eliminated. In the case of the Nigerian distribution systems, these losses are abnormally high with detrimental consequences on the effective operation of the system. Thus this study is aimed at classifying and suggesting possible mitigation strategies for minimizing losses in the Nigerian distribution network. Keywords: power distribution systems, technical losses, non- technical losses, mitigation strategy I. INTRODUCTION The central electrical power network operated in most parts of the world today is made up of three sections, namely: generation, transmission, and distribution [1]. The distribution section of the network is directly in touch with the consumers as it steps down and distributes the energy at the required voltage to the consumers and thus subject to criticism of the consumers [1], [2]. As such the assessment of the quality of every central power system is determined by the quality of service delivery to the consumers by the distribution section. With the privatization of the generation and distribution sections of the Nigerian power system in 2013 resulting in the emergence of eleven privately-owned distribution companies (DISCOs), there were lots of expectations that Nigeria was going to experience turn around in the sector [3]. However, the sector is still heavily plagued with several issues including the controversial energy charges, low power quality, and expansion capability, inability to make prepaid meters available to the consumers, frequent outages, and high technical and non-technical losses among others [4]. High technical and non-technical losses seem to be the worst of all the plagues as they have direct effects on energy charges, revenue generation, capacity for expansion, etc. As a result, there is an urgent need to develop strategies for mitigation of technical and non-technical losses in the Nigerian distribution systems. But before any meaningful strategy could be developed to mitigate the losses, the losses have to be identified and classified, thus this study is aimed at identifying, classifying and developing strategies for mitigating losses in the Nigerian distribution system II. LOSSES IN THE NIGERIAN DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS In every electrical power network, losses are unavoidable and cannot be eliminated [2], [5]. They have remained one of the biggest challenges faced in electrical power systems operation with detrimental effects on the efficiency and income generation at all levels of the power network [6]. As a result, they must be kept at a low value as possible. The distribution section, being more complex than the other sections of the power system is worst hit by losses [7]. Losses at the distribution section are the amounts of energy received from the transmission section by the distribution section but not paid for by the consumers. These losses are technically called Aggregate Technical, Commercial, and Collection (ATC & C) losses. ATC & C losses were one of the reasons for the privatization of the Nigerian DISCOs. However, information from the NERC dataset showed that all the DISCOs are far from achieving the set target for ATC & C loss reduction. For space constraint, only the ATC & C losses data for Ikeja Electricity distribution is presented in this study as shown in figure 1. Note that the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company represented has the least ATC & C losses after Eko Electricity Distribution Company when compared to the other DISCOs. To further show that that ATC & C for the all the DISCOs are very high, the ATC & C losses for all the DISCOs for February 2019 is presented in Table 1