In a real-life electrical power system, the load demand is not constant, rather it varies time by time. The variation in load demand is due to the uncertain demands of consumers and technically the term variable load is used to define this.
An electrical power plant is designed to supply electric power to consumers. An ideal electrical load on the power plant from standpoint of equipment needed and operating routine would be a load that has constant magnitude and steady duration.
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The above-mentioned load could have been in an ideal case, however, in real life, such a steady load on the station doesn’t exist. The consumer’s demand varies and they require their small or large block of power as per their demands of power. Different customers may have different load demand all the time. As a result of this load on the power station varies from time to time.
The load variation is known as variable load and the existence of variable load gives birth to different complexities in the power system. Variable loads require additional power equipment as well as it results in increased cost of electric power generation.
Also see: MCQs on Power Generation