According to electricity suppliers comparison website encazip, the rate of illegal electricity use in the Tigris distribution area, which was around 70 per year in 2015, decreased to 46 percent in 2020. Çağada Kırım, the founder of encazip, stated that the lost leakage price was stated in the invoices in the past, but with the change made, this amount is no longer included in the invoices, "For the time being, the rate of the lost leakage price in the bills is not clear. It is charged within the distribution fee. The decrease in the rate of illegal use is also good news for citizens."
The efforts implemented to reduce the use of illegal electricity have yielded results and the rate of illegal electricity use has decreased. According to the information provided by the electricity suppliers comparison website encazip, the rate of illegal use, which was around 70 percent especially in the Dicle distribution region, decreased to 46 percent.
Loss and leakage are different concepts
The technical loss caused by the characteristics of the electricity network is referred to as 'lost electricity'. This situation can be minimized by network updates, but it is not possible to eliminate it completely. The fact that the electricity used as a result of illegal intervention in the network cannot be measured and billed is called 'illegal electricity'. The 'Lost Fugitive Cost' consists of calculating these two fugitive situations. In other words, 'Loss Leakage Rate' refers to the rate of technical or non-technical energy losses that occur during transmission in the electrical system. The cost of lost leakage does not only include illegal use, but also technical loss.
High voltage reduces loss
Electricity consumption in the world is also increasing due to reasons such as increasing population and urbanization, economic growth and increasing the quality of life. In 2018, world electricity consumption increased by 3.99 percent compared to the previous year and amounted to 22,315 TWh. The worldwide electricity grid consists of about 80 million km of transmission and distribution lines. According to 2019 data, the total length of the electricity transmission network in Turkey is 70,034.1 km. The total length of the distribution network is 1,172,334.9 km. In 2019, only 380 kV of electricity passed through the transmission line, which is 23,940.4 km long. The higher the voltage of electricity passing through the cables, the lower the loss rate. But the high voltage, although it reduces the loss, does not reset.
Most loss-leakage use in the Tigris region
According to the data announced by the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA), the highest loss rate in 2020 was in the Dicle electricity distribution region, which covers the provinces of Diyarbakır, Şanlıurfa, Batman, Mardin, Siirt and Şırnak with 46.32 percent, followed by the Vangölü electricity distribution region covering the provinces of Van, Bitlis, Muş and Hakkari with 44.57 percent. The fact that the leakage rates in 2020 were lower than the forecast attracted attention. In the Tigris, the forecast was 60.45 percent, while the realized was 46.32 percent. While the loss rate in the Dicle electricity distribution region was below the estimate, the leakage rate in the Çamlıbel electricity distribution region, which includes the provinces of Sivas, Tokat and Yozgat, was above the estimate.
The lost leakage fee is now collected within the distribution price
Çağada Kırım stated that in the past, the lost leakage price was specified in the bills, but with the amendment made, this price was no longer included in the bills and said: "The lost leakage price item in the electricity bills was removed with the national electricity tariff effective on January 1, 2016 and this price was added to the distribution price item. According to the last electricity tariff of 2015, the last date on which the cost of lost leakage was stated on the bills, about 12 percent of the electricity bill of a business subscriber was the lost leakage fee. This rate was about 15 percent in the dwelling. However, for the time being, the ratio of the lost leakage price to electricity bills is not clear. It is collected within the distribution fee."
