Energy Management Through Optimal Logistics Planning. Case Study of a Power Electrical Distribution Company in Southern Chile

Abstract

Climate change is a real fact. The increase in temperatures, the change in rain cycles, the generation of more extreme seasons and natural disasters at a global and local level, are examples of its effects. In the electricity environment, the interruption of supply caused by extreme weather events is increasingly frequent; while electricity distribution companies in Chile are required by law to maintain the electric service constantly, guaranteeing the service quality and the quality of life of their customers. The adequate fulfillment of this legal mandate, require attend opportunely the client’s energy supply, before any eventuality. Consequently, electric companies must assign repair units to guarantee this objective. However, this process involves the assignment and displacement of these units in vehicles. This allocation, without efficient planning, involve an excessive consumption of resources such as fuel and other inputs that affect the environment. This leads to having to review the logistics processes and establish mechanisms to promote sustainable development, looking for tools that provide data to support and improve the evaluation process of alternatives for friendly building and architectural structures, which help to improve the environment and mitigate visual pollution, as well as the use of less polluting alternative energies (wind or solar energy, for example) that allow the direct supply of electrical energy. Therefore, this study seeks to present mechanisms to determine an optimal allocation of repair units to minimize the amount of contamination in the operational process and, in turn, establish a reference value, which can be used as a complementary element in the evaluation of the use of new non-polluting electrical technologies.