Management of any aspect of life remains the single determining factor for success, wealth, growth and prosperity – this is a general truth. Without an effective management system, nothing will have direction and no milestone can be achieved. The most important management section of any organization is the management on ground level. If ground level management of an organization is defective, the organization will not function and will soon only serve as a reference to a valuable lesson. The sustainability of local government is determined by the same principle, with the success thereof ascribed to the management of infrastructure and processes within a municipality. One such functioning aspect of municipalities is the electrical energy metering system. A wellmanaged and maintained electrical energy management system is one of the few capital resources of any municipality. The electrical supply system can however also be one of many constraints, impeding development if mismanaged. This research study shows the effects of management, or the lack thereof, on selected rural municipalities. Research was done to determine the current state of technology and the associated financial impact on these municipalities. Although it is not possible to generalize, it is evident from this research study that an underlying problem is the lack of proper ground level management. Design science research was used to add value in the form of a capability maturity model for rural municipalities. Such a model can be used to score a municipality in terms of its capability maturity at national level. When applied correctly, this model can be used as a management tool. By the implementation of certain management strategies based on technical principles, the impact of an electrical energy metering management system was also illustrated by this research study. This research study also covers the applied method and results as implemented by several municipalities within the Republic of South Africa. / Thesis (MIng (Electrical and Electronic Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Management of any aspect of life remains the single determining factor for success, wealth, growth and prosperity – this is a general truth. Without an effective management system, nothing will have direction and no milestone can be achieved. The most important management section of any organization is the management on ground level. If ground level management of an organization is defective, the organization will not function and will soon only serve as a reference to a valuable lesson. The sustainability of local government is determined by the same principle, with the success thereof ascribed to the management of infrastructure and processes within a municipality. One such functioning aspect of municipalities is the electrical energy metering system. A wellmanaged and maintained electrical energy management system is one of the few capital resources of any municipality. The electrical supply system can however also be one of many constraints, impeding development if mismanaged. This research study shows the effects of management, or the lack thereof, on selected rural municipalities. Research was done to determine the current state of technology and the associated financial impact on these municipalities. Although it is not possible to generalize, it is evident from this research study that an underlying problem is the lack of proper ground level management. Design science research was used to add value in the form of a capability maturity model for rural municipalities. Such a model can be used to score a municipality in terms of its capability maturity at national level. When applied correctly, this model can be used as a management tool. By the implementation of certain management strategies based on technical principles, the impact of an electrical energy metering management system was also illustrated by this research study. This research study also covers the applied method and results as implemented by several municipalities within the Republic of South Africa. / Thesis (MIng (Electrical and Electronic Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Orientador: Carlos Alberto Canesin / Resumo: Nesta tese é apresentado o desenvolvimento inédito de um equipamento de medição de parâmetros de qualidade de energia elétrica embarcado em um dispositivo FPGA, incorporando funcionalidades que o caraterizam como medidor inteligente. Dessa forma, obteve-se uma plataforma capaz de realizar monitoramento e verificação, em tempo real, do comportamento de sistemas de energia elétrica quando estes operam em condições de desequilíbrio, desbalanços, assimetria nos ângulos de defasagem e presença de componentes harmônicas, impostas pelo comportamento das cargas e/ou pelas tensões de alimentação do sistema. Para isso, foram empregadas as metodologias de cálculos de potência definidas pelo padrão IEEE 1459-2010 e a Teoria da Potência Conservativa. Técnicas de processamento digital de sinais são aplicadas para a descrição dos módulos de sincronismo e janelamento, baseados na norma NBR-IEC-61000-4-30:2010, assim como filtros digitais e deslocadores de fase adaptativos para a extração das componentes fundamentais e componentes fundamentais de sequência positiva. Adicionalmente, são detalhados todos os estágios relacionados com o condicionamento e amostragem dos sinais elétricos, cálculos de potência, cálculo de harmônicos, interface de usuário, acesso aos dados e comando para desconexão/religamento de cargas remotas. Os resultados experimentais obtidos em um sistema trifásico a 4 fios, para diferentes cenários de operação, incluindo a presença de elementos de geração distribuída, evidenci... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: In this thesis, the development of a novel power quality equipment embedded in an FPGA device, incorporating smart-metering features, is presented. Thus, a platform capable of real-time monitoring and verification of power systems operating under sinusoidal, non-sinusoidal, balanced and / or unbalanced conditions, was obtained. For this purpose, power calculation methods defined by both the IEEE 1459-2010 standard and the Conservative Power Theory (CPT) are reviewed and implemented. Based on NBR-IEC-61000-4-30: 2010 standards, digital signal processing techniques for the synchronization and windowing tasks, as well as, adaptive digital filters and adaptive phase shifters for obtaining the extraction of fundamental components as well as the positive-sequence fundamental components, are applied. Likewise, the complete developed stages regarding conditioning and sampling of electrical signals, power calculations, harmonic component calculations, graphical user interface, remote data access, and disconnection/reconnection commands for remote loads, are detailed. The experimental results obtained from a three-phase 4-wire system, under several operations scenarios, including the presence of distributed generation (DG) elements, highlight the advantages of the implemented methodologies, when compared with commercial power quality analyzers, which use traditional definitions of power quantities. / Doutor