Evaluation and Cost Analysis of Methods of Power Supply for Irrigation Pumps

The electrical loads in rural areas are mostly dominated by induction motor-driven water irrigation pumps. These loads are fed from a low-voltage distribution system (LVDS) which consists of an 11 kV/433 Volts three-phase distribution transformer followed by a long low-tension (L.T.) line. The low-voltage line carries a very high current and results in high power loss, low voltage profile, and poor quality of supply to the end consumers. To overcome these drawbacks of LVDS, different strategies have been tried in the literature which include capacitor bank installation at the load end, high-voltage distribution system (HVDS), and off-grid solar photovoltaic (SPV) pumps. This paper presents a techno-commercial analysis of the HVDS methodology used to supply electricity to irrigation pumps. The load flow studies are conducted for LVDS and HVDS systems to find power losses in the distribution network. Moreover, annualized life cycle cost analysis (ALCC) is carried out by considering different topologies of the distribution network to study economic feasibility. The study shows that the HVDS and solar PV-based pump systems are effective methods for minimizing power losses while supplying electricity to irrigation pumps.