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Who We
Are

Introduction What is a "Quality Tonne" Staff and Office Locations

The Carbon
Market

Introduction The Market Potential How the Market Works UNFCCC Process

QT's Approved
CDM Methodologies

Introduction AM0017 (Steam Efficiency Improvements in China) AM0020 (Water Pumping Efficiency in India) AM0023 (Reducing Gas Leaks in Pipeline Compressor Stations) ACM007 (Conversion from Single Cycle to Combined Cycle Generation) AM0048 (Elimination of Diesel Self-Generation) AM0052 (Hydropower Optimization)

Proposed CDM Projects
by QT and its Partners

Reducing SF6 emission

QT in the
News

QT Article in Carbon Finance Point Carbon, CDM Monitor, July 15, 2004 Article on QT Point Carbon, CDM Monitor, June 14, 2005

Areas of
Expertise

Power Sector Oil and Gas Sector Renewable Energy and Landfill Gas Energy Efficiency Sequestration

What QT can
do for you

Services: QT Baseline and Monitoring What else can QT do?

Proposed CDM Projects by QT and its Partners

Transmission/distribution (T&D) losses in Nigeria: (NM0136)

When electricity is transmitted from the power plant and distributed to customers, there will always be losses, resulting in the wasting of megawatt hours. If those losses could be reduced through better technology, then it would take fewer MWH to generate the same level of load - thus avoiding GHG emissions. Transmission and distribution (T&D) losses come from two main sources:

1. Losses from transmission/distribution wires or conductors: Conductor losses occur primarily because of the resistance of the conducting materials (copper or aluminum) to the flow of electric current. In general, the smaller the diameter of the conductor, the greater the resistance to the flow of the current

2. Transformers: Transformers generate losses in two ways. Coil loss (also known as copper loss or load loss) is caused by the impedance to the flow of current in the transformer windings when supplying an electrical load. The second source of loss results from hysteresis and eddy currents in the steel core of the transformer, which are independent of the load. This loss is referred to as a core loss, or no-load loss.

QT has developed a methodology (NM0136) to calculate the losses from a baseline case (determined by what conductors and transformers exist before the project) and from a post-project scenario (when the T&D equipment is upgraded). The difference is the loss reduction, which along with the carbon emissions factor of the power grid, can provide a calculation of GHG reductions. QT has developed a spreadsheet model that can help power companies apply NM0136 to determine both baseline losses from current T&D infrastructure and what the reduced level of losses would be if T&D equipment is upgraded and modernized.

This methodology is based on a project in Nigeria, where the power company is interested in replacing small-diameter, low-voltage lines (which are in very bad shape - see picture below), with a modern, higher-voltage distribution system (see second photo). The project would also install newer and more efficient transformers. Distribution lines that are larger and can carry larger voltages essentially make the flow of electricity easier (think of a two-lane road widened to a 4 lane highway) with less impedance and lower friction. This project activity, if approved, would improve electricity reliability for people across the developing world and would be highly replicable in both transmission and distribution systems.

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