DG Efficiency (Units per Litre): How to Measure, Improve, and Stop Fuel Theft
A practical guide to DG efficiency in India: units per litre (kWh/L), litres per unit, load factor effects, and how IoT monitoring detects fuel theft and breakdown risk.
Apr 25, 2026
DG efficiency in one KPI: units per litre (kWh/L)
Most facilities track diesel purchase bills but don’t know how many electricity units were actually produced. The simplest KPI is units per litre: kWh/L = load_kW ÷ diesel_L_per_hour. Track it across load levels (25%, 50%, 75%) to find waste.
Why DG efficiency drops (and what it costs)
Low-load running: DGs are inefficient at 10–30% load; consolidate loads where possible.
Poor maintenance: clogged filters/injectors increase fuel burn per unit.
Hidden theft/leakage: tank drops that don’t match kWh output are a red flag.
Bad scheduling: long idle and short-cycling runs increase wear and cost.
Fuel theft detection: correlate kWh with tank drops
A reliable monitoring setup combines kWh generation, runtime, and a fuel depth sensor. When expected burn (kWh × typical SFC) doesn’t match the tank drop, you can flag theft or leakage. Alerts help catch it the same day, not at month-end.
Recommended setup (what to measure)
kWh generation and load profile (kW/kVA) for every run
Runtime hours and start/stop events
Fuel depth trend and sudden drops
Cost per kWh during DG usage for transparent internal billing
Product: DG Efficiency Tracker by Enlog
Explore: DG Efficiency Tracker (kWh monitoring, fuel theft control, breakdown alerts).