Advanced Digital Electricity or Smart Meters can save Money?

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1) Update: 23 December 2021:- Worth taking up such a plan now?

21 December 2021

So your electricity market has been deregulated and you can take up an electricity plan to buy electricity from the market.   Have you ever considered taking up an electricity plan that can save money by using electricity wisely?  This article will tell you how.  

How?

Step 1:  Change the conventional mechanical electricity meter to the Advanced Digital Electricity Meter.  Different countries name this meter with different names.  Some call it a Smart Meter;  in Singapore,  they call it Advanced Metering Infrastructure(AMI) for some reasons.

There might be an installation cost of a nominal amount.   Some Power companies or retailers might charge also a small monthly fee for the use of digital lines to transmit and record the usage of the electricity.  

Step 2:   Take up an electricity plan from an electricity retailer and specifically request to "buy" electricity measured in terms of time intervals such as every half an hour.  This is because most electricity plans are fixed-rate plans or tariff discount plans.  They do not have such time-interval measurements.    So far,  there are one or two retailers in Singapore that can provide such a plan.   It is the Singapore Power's Wholesale electricity plan or SPWS and the Keppel's Knight plan.   

How to use Electricity Smartly?

It is always easier said than done.  Simply say,  it is how we can change our habits of using electricity by avoiding using electricity when the price is high.    

How Does it work? 

In the electricity market,  the Generating companies generate and sell electricity to the market in terms of a time period which is usually 1/2 an hour.   

The generating companies will always have varying generation operating costs.  They would sell electricity at a high rate during the "peak hours" when everyone is using the electricity.  Therefore,  if one can avoid using electricity during these "peak hours",   one will be able to save money.

Why I must change my mechanical meter?

The mechanical meters are just measuring how much one has used electricity,  It cannot tell when the amount of electricity was used.  There is no way for the electricity retailer to work out electricity usage in terms of the time intervals. They can only work out one's electricity usage based on a load profile provided by the regulatory authority. 

How much can I save?

If one can avoid using high-power appliances during "peak"  hours,  one will be able to save 30 to 40%  of the electricity bills as shown in the following table.    

How to check how much was used?

The electricity metering companies will usually provide some means for consumers to check their electricity usage.  In Singapore,  one can check electricity consumption through a phone app.  

In other countries,  they might provide some other tools such as the "in-home display unit"

Where to find more information about the meter?

The Grid company or electricity metering company will always have the information where one can find more;  for example, this is a pdf presented by Singapore's SP Power.   Here is a good video from CNA.

One can also find information about the smart meter from this Wikipedia.

How do we go about saving money?

Before taking up such a plan to save money,  one should do some detailed planning to find out how much one could save. To do that,  one could an Excel sheet and the electricity price information given by the supply authorities as shown below to work out a strategic plan as to when is the best time to use what kind of appliances.

One can also use electric timers to switch on and off freezers and refrigerators,  preventing them from starting frequently during peak hours.   One could even go to the extreme of exploring various other options such as using high-power rechargeable battery packs and auto-switching equipment in order to use electricity only during "off-peak" hours.   

Dry runs

Although it is not too difficult to switch electricity retailers or switch to a new retail electricity plan,  one might want to do a dry run before taking the electricity plan.  One can either request for the Advanced Digital Electricity meter to be installed to carry out the dry run.  The alternative is to install self-installed energy monitors that are available commercially at around SGD50/=.

Summary

There is no way we can change how they charge the electricity but we can control the way we use electricity.  We can replace our mechanical electricity meter with an advanced digital meter and take up an electricity plan that will allow us to use the cheaper electricity during "off-peak" hours.   

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Update:  23 December 2021

Is it really worth taking up such plan?

Presently,  there is a natural gas supply problem happening in Europe.  This problem has caused electricity prices in European and Asian countries to go sky-high.   The rate between Wholesale electricity price and another price such as the regulated price has widened,  making it not worth the while to take up a Wholesale plan that one can make use of an Advanced Metering system to save money.  The details have been discussed in these two articles

a)  Why the WholeSale Electricity Rate is so high?  
b)  Why this Global Energy Price Hike?

Energy Saving Auto-Switching Lighting System

15 December 2021

Some people do not have the habit of switching off the lights off in bathrooms,  toilets,  staircases,  corridors,  hallways, or in areas such as inside cabinets or locker rooms.   Also,  the elderly have poor eyesight;  they are prone to falling down after knocking themselves against the walls or poles especially when they are probing in the dark during early hours.  This article wants to share a home lighting system that these people can use at home,  not only to save energy but also to protect the elderly.

Auto-Switching Lighting System?

These are lighting systems that will switch on automatically when someone is approaching the light fittings.  

The "key" of the lighting system is the sensor that will sense the presence of some moving objects. There are generally 2 types of sensors available in the market for the auto-lighting system.   One of them uses Pyroelectric InfraRed Sensors or Passive InfraRed Sensors (PIR) & the other uses Radar Motion Sensors.  For those who are interested to know more about how motion sensors work,  please read here.

What is available in the Market?

There are plenty of different kinds,  types, and makes of auto-switch light fittings available in today's market.  They are all made from LED running either on battery or mains operated. The latter will need an inverter driver to convert the ac supply to dc supply.   

Generally, they fall into the following category:

This project is more interested in using the auto-switch LED lighting system that has a USB charging port.  

Why?  

One can use such a lighting system for wiring up the whole apartment using a cheap and simple wiring system that can be hidden from view and is less dangerous for the novices.   It can save buying a lot of rechargeable batteries and the inconvenience of charging the batteries at regular intervals;  also,  one can innovate to control the lighting system such as making the lighting system only available during dark hours.  

How?

The following is a schematic diagram showing how the wiring system can be set up using the cheap and thin 2-wire flat cable that can be hidden under the carpet,  behind the joins, and alongside the edge of walls or fixed to the wall without elaborated wiring accessories or otherwise normally required under the National wiring codes.  All one needs to observe is to run the cabling system separately from the normal mains cables.   This would not be a problem if the existing mains cables are of the concealed type which is usually encased in metal conduits for added mechanical protection.

Can Give Examples?

Take for example the auto lighting for the staircase,  there is usually a space underneath the staircase where most would convert it to the storeroom.   This is the best place to install the timer and the 5-volt power supply from which wiring will start to go into the bedroom and toilet etc.  

For the staircase lighting,  some might try fancy ideas such as using strings of LED lights or installing lights at every step of the staircase.  This is really not necessary.   It is just a waste of money.  

Usually,  2 nos of 1.5 Watts 10x LED lights as shown attached as the following will be sufficient to illuminate the staircase depending on the flight of the staircase. 

One could also use other types provided they have a USB socket for 5 volt supply.   

If the light fitting is complete with lithium batteries,  one might have to find one that has good and reliable lithium batteries or circuitries that will allow over-charging.  This is because some poor-quality lithium batteries can be a fire hazard when they are overcharged for a prolonged period using non-approved chargers.  The alternative is to have the built-in rechargeable Lithium batteries removed.  

What are the Required Accessories?

Other than the electric solder and wires & usual tools like screwdriver etc,  one might need the following:-

What if I want lights to be on all the time?

Different manufacturers have different designs for these LED lightings.  Some come with extra switching facilities allowing the lights to be adjusted if one wanted longer light-on interval or permanently on or off.  If one really doesn't want a pitch dark room after the auto-light is off;  such as in the toilets or bathrooms,  one might want to install an additional small LED lamp.  either off the shelves or construct one from parts and connect it to the circuit. 

 

Is Omicron more Transmissible But less Severe Than Delta?

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1) Update: 15 December 2021: Detecting Omicron 
2) Update: 23 December 2021: Omicron, lesser hospitalization
3) Update: 29 December 2021: Omicron in GauTeng,  SA 

8 August 2018

The preliminary hospital data released by the South African (SA) Medical Research Council (SAMRC) appears to suggest that thus far.  This article intends to keep track of the development of Omicron.

What has been found?

This chart released by SAMRC gives us a glimpse of what we say about Omicron as far as transmissivity  & severeness are concerned.

The chart is showing us the following picture.  It tells us Omicron is about 20% more transmissible but  6 times less severe in terms of death at the present moment.

Updated Chart (To be updated regularly)

The attached is superimposing the new cases and death charts taken from Our-World-in-Data.  It is for the whole of  SA and it is also showing that Omicron is more transmissible but less severe than the other variants.  Until further notice, this chart will be updated regularly or when there are many changes. 

The following chart is the situation in SA & Botswana where Omicron is the predominant virus to date.  Omicron's new cases in SA have risen and are about to break their last record.  The death rate still remains muted.

What Can We Expect?

Many are of the view that these preliminary findings cannot represent the real power of Omicron because Omicron is a new variant.   It might mutate & further develop into a more fearful variant in the future.   There is also a time lag between the death and the infection figures.  In other words,  we might expect Omicron to have more deaths at later dates.

While this concern is likely,  the other variants are telling us the time lag between death and infection is usually about 10 to 20 days.  So far,  Omicron has been around for almost 9 weeks or 63 days.  We don't think there will be much change unless Omicron mutates further at a later date into a more vicious variant. 

What to expect for the 2-Dose Vaccinated?

Interestingly,  SAMRC also provided breakdown figures for the vaccinated and unvaccinated for Omicron infection.  

So far,  SA has a vaccination of about 30% which means 1/3 of the population is vaccinated whereas the other 2/3  is unvaccinated.   By using this vaccination ratio,  we could roughly estimate the effectiveness of the vaccines in SA to be about 50% as shown in the following workouts.

The 50% vaccine effectiveness is not enough to keep Omicron at bay.

Again,  the vaccine effectiveness is worked out based on the limited data.  It cannot represent the actual and real result;  however,  it does reflect that the SA vaccine,  which is predominately 2-dose Pfizer,  has lower vaccine effectiveness against Omicron.  These are also the findings of the most recent Pfizer laboratory work.  

What are the Pfizer Laboratory Findings?

Pfizer in its latest press announcement on December 08, 2021, has the following important claims

1)  The Pfizer's booster shot can induce antibodies that can neutralize Omicron to match the level comparable to other variants;

2)  The existing Pfizer 2-Dose may not be able to protect against Omicron.   It has been found to have a 25-fold reduction in the neutralization titers.

What is this 25-fold Reduction?

This is jargon in immunology.  It is a measurement used to indicate the fold-increase or reduction in the levels of neutralization of antibodies.   Here is a pictorial representation of how they work out the 25-fold increase/reduction.

There is a relationship between vaccine effectiveness and fold-reduction but at the present time,  there is no direct conversion available for working out the Covid vaccine effectiveness using the fold level reduction in antibodies.

What to Expect Now?

It has been found that Omicron is a heavily mutated variant.  It has been identified to have 30 changes to its spike protein whereas Delta has only 13 changes.    The scientists to date do not have many clues about how Omicron has acquired so many mutation changes and the speculation is that Omicron appears to be a much vicious variant compared to its predecessors.

The US expert,  Dr. Anthoney Fauci, pointed to the evidence about Omicron being more transmissible but less severe.  But he expected more evidence and data to come before he can reach a definitive conclusion.    Because Omicron is more transmissible,  it has been identified as a candidate "likely to mutate in places where vaccination is low and transmission is high,"    

However,  many experts including those in WHO are keeping track of Omicron closely as they are saying this Omicron could be a 'turning point" of the present pandemic because its behavior is much different from the rest of the variants.   This Professor of Epidemiology,  Prof Ralf Reintjes,  from Hamburg University was of the view that "Omicron could mark a positive turning point in this pandemic".  Let's watch what he was trying to tell us in this video.

Just to recap.  The experts are warning us that this Omicron is very transmissible but at the moment,   it is less severe than the rest of the variants.   However,  we are asked not to be premature optimism & expectation about Omicron.  

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Update: 15 December 2021

Detecting Omicron

The presence of Omicron can be detected using some brands of Antigen Rapid Test (ART) or LFT.  One can also detect Omicron by using PCR tests.  However,  ART or LFT can only tell if one is infected and it cannot tell by which type of virus.   Only the PCR test can tell the difference.    

In the past,  the laboratory will have to do genome sequencing to detect the difference.   This genome sequencing could cost as much as USD1000/= per sample because the detecting agent is quite expensive.   Fortunately,   Omicron shares a testing pattern quite similar to Alpha which has almost extinct and some manufacturers can come up with PCR testing kits that can detect Omicron fairly quickly.   So far,  the following brands have claimed that their PCR testing kits can detect the Omicron variants.

1.  Thermo Fisher Scientific, Abbott, Qiagen, Cue Health and Co-Diagnostics (US)

2.  Roche (Germany)

3.  Acumen (Singapore)

4.  IIT Delhi (India)

FDA said the following PCR test kit will return false-negative results.

Applied DNA Sciences, Meridian Bioscience, and Tide Laboratories 

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Update: 23 December 2021

South Africa is presently having the highest proportion (96%) of Omicron patients in the World.  Its National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has a daily surveillance report published on this website.    It has a network called "DATCOV-Gen" where studies about Covid hospitalization details are often reported.   One of its most recent studies published in  BMJ,  an internationally renowned medical journal, is shown here.  

The study report concluded that those suffering from Omicron are likely to have lower odds of being admitted to hospitals as compared to non-omicron patients.  The odds ratio (AOR) was estimated to be 0.2 @ 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.1-0.3).    In other words,  those suffering from Omicron would have an 80% lesser chance of being admitted to a hospital for treatment.

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Update: 29 December 2021

The infection rate in Gauteng,  SA has receded by 75% from 630 new cases per mil to about 120 cases per mil.   The hospitalisation rate came down by about 30% and death rates appear to be muted as shown in this chart worked out by Dr. Ridhwaan Suliman

Why this Global Energy Price Hike?

Jump to 

1) Update: 11 December 2021:US exports more LNG
2) Update: 17 December 2021: Asian LNG price jumped 21.1%
3) Update: 20 December 2021:US LNG Diverted to Europe
4) Update: 24 December 2021:China is Biggest LNG Importer

3 December 2021

There is always this rise in energy price during the winter months because the energy demand will be high especially when there is a colder winter expected.   In these months from November to March,  the energy price could fluctuate between 10% to about 50% in the past depending on how cold will be the weather and how long they will have to run the heating system during the winter months.  

But what happened this year?  Why our energy price has gone up so high,  some more than 500%?  This article will try to find out the answers.

What has happened?

This year,   the energy price has gone crazy.  Natural gas prices in  Asia went up by about 5 times or 500% compared to last year and the Crude oil price was also up by 60%.   The US's natural gas price is also not spared.  It went up by about 120%,  not as high as Asia and UK for some reasons.  But it lost about 100% in the last 3 months as shown in the following chart.  

double-click to enlarge the picture

The rise in crude oil price and natural gas price in the US could be caused partly by the prediction ahead of the extremely cold winter months.  It could be also partly influenced by higher gas prices in Europe and Asia.   But the European and Asian 500% jump in gas price has just gone crazy.  It is definitely due to other reasons besides the colder winter.  But what are these reasons?

Why so very high? 

   

There was speculation about the Russian was behind this crazy pricing.  There was also a strong view that the higher demand was caused by countries going for clean air,   converting all power generation to natural gas firing.   Another guess was about China turning to Russian gas for the supply of natural gas to supplement the power shortage happening in recent months.  There were reports that China had been shoring up natural gas supplies.

Russia Denied being the Cause

Russia was blamed to have contributed to the natural gas price in Europe.   They forced gas prices to go higher by declining to supply additional gas to Europe.  But Russia has denied this allegation.  Instead,  Russia blamed European nations for not doing their homework to increase their storage capacity.  

On the other hand,  the Western World is pointing out that China has stepped up its effort to buy natural gas at record level through the Russian pipelines in the North.   There were instructions

"asking its top National oil and gas companies in China to step up procurement, shifting its LNG purchase strategy away from volatile spot markets and boosting the supply of alternative generation fuels like coal in the winter months.".   The record-breaking buying saw China nearly doubled its gas imports from Russia from about 2.3 M mt of oil equivalent in July/August 2020 to 3.7 M mt in July/August 2021.  They import went up to This instruction came amidst China was facing severe power shortages,  causing frequent power supply cuts after having banned the imports of the Australian Coking coals earlier in the year.  China's natural gas consumption is about 370 Bcm in 2021. This consumption is almost equal to the consumption of the whole of Europe. 

As such,  the World,  especially the European countries,  must have been caught by the sudden increase in China's natural gas demand.   They might not have the time to increase their storage capacity to tie over the period.

Will the Natural Gas Crisis go away?

It is not a matter of when the natural gas crisis will go away but just a matter of when.  This is because "the world has proven reserves equivalent to 52.3 times its annual consumption. This means it still has about 52 years of gas left".

The Natural Gas crisis started by China and it will end by China.  China started increasing its import of natural gas from Russia in August 2020.  It has almost doubled its supply in a year.  This Russian article suggested that Russian is expected to supply 10 Bcm or 9.0 million mt to China in 2021. 

Because the Asian Natural Gas price is nearly 5 times that of the US,  there was an afford made by various Chinese conglomerates like CNOOC,  Sinopec &  other agents to buy LNG from the US at record-breaking levels.  This is despite the import ban of the US LNG after the trade war in 2019.    The test mode of bringing the US gas shall start end of 2021 and if successful,  the gas supply should flow by the first quarter of 2022.  

The following animated chart illustrates and expected the natural price hike to ease very soon if China can start importing natural gas from the US.

As for the very cold winter predicted earlier,  the authorities are now questioning the whereabouts as they have recorded mild weather patterns in November.  The World Metrological Organisation (WMO) has this forecasting model.  It worked out in November for many parts of the World including China and produced this chart.  The chart shows only the pacific ocean areas have some spots of surface air temperature lower than normal temperatures.  They predicted widespread warmer-than-average sea surfaces & air temperatures for December–February 2021-2022. 

In Conclusion

The spike in natural gas supply in Europe and Asia is likely to be caused by the sudden demand in China as they doubled their pumping volume recently.  This has made the price of natural gas gone sky high as China now turned to buy natural gas from the US.  We should see energy prices being tamed as soon as China has solved its energy problem hopefully by the first quarter of 2022. So far,  there are already report about Asian LNG price has fallen because China has muted its import.  This move has also caused Russia to increase its gas supply to European countries.

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Update:  11 December 2021

a)  US Export more LNG

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that the US's weekly LNG export increased by about 13% or 0.283 BCM (10 bn ft3) from 2.37 BCM (84 bn ft3) on 1 December to 2.69 BCM (9.5 bn ft3) on 8 December.     EIA said the US's LNG export rate would be increased by  20% from 2.69 BCM(9.5 bn ft3) by the end of Nov 2021 to 3.23 BCM(11.4bn ft3/d) by end of 2022.   It also expected the US's LNG export rate to increase by 72%  by 2024 to about 4.61 BCM/d(16.3bn ft3/d).  This 4.61  BCM/d  in 2024 will be more than enough to supply 70% of China's NG daily consumption which is around 6.34 BCM/d for 1.4 billion or 16 cubic feet per capita per day.   It is likely also that the EIA's expectation to increase LNG export by 20% in 2022 might help to solve the supply problem now happening in Europe and Asia.

b)  Putin ordered to increase NG Supply to Europe

Russian President Putin on 7 December ordered Government to work out a proposal by March 1 2021 to supply 10 BCM of NG to Europe.  This amount is equivalent to about 5 weeks' of LNG export of the US.    

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Update:  17 December 2021

Asian LNG price rises due to supply concerns in Europe.  The Asian LNG price for February rose to $43.35 per metric million British thermal units (mmBtu), up 21.1% from $35,8 from the previous week.

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Update:  20 December 2021

Although the Chinese were buying the US LNG,  it is unlikely to see the LNG price in the Asian region easing soon.  This is because they are re-shipping & diverting the US LNG shipment from Asia to Europe for better selling prices.

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China Surpassed Japan as World’s Biggest LNG Importer Through October.  China became the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) importer during the first 10 months of 2021, according to data from government agencies. 

Choosing the Right Extension Cord and Wirings

Many a time,  we use an extension cord to extend our power supply for connection to a laptop,  Hifi Audio,  Television, and many other appliances.  They are cheap & easily available.  Sometimes,  we use such extension cords for slightly heavy current appliances such as electric irons & kettles.   

Most extension cords we buy off the shelves are not suitable for very heavy current appliances,  not because the plugs and sockets cannot take the load but because the flexible cable used is too small for carrying such higher electric currents.  A quick test one could do is to turn on the appliance for about a minute,  we should feel that these underrated cables will start to warm up.   The better extension cord will always have the ratings specified on the extension cord but the cheaper ones might not. 

This article will try to give some information on how to choose the extension cords and how to size up the flexible cable if one decides to DIY an extension cord.

Extension Cords

There are generally 3 types.  The common ones are sold as switch socket outlets.   They are either in single,  double, or multiple gangs as shown in the top left-hand picture. The other common ones in cable reels where the cables can be reel in and out for storage purposes as shown in the top-right-hand picture.  For those requiring heavy-duty for industrial applications,  they are shown in the lower pictures. 

What to look for?

When buying an extension cord,  it is important to know what we will be using the extension cord for and how long will be the cable or rather how far the appliance will be located away from the wall power sockets. We will be looking at the load-carrying capacity of the extension cord and the loading distance of the extension cord.

a)  Load-Carrying Capacity

For example,  if we are using the extension cord for television,  HiFi audio set,  laptop, or Christmas lights, most extension cords will be able to do the job.   But if we use the cord for electric irons and kettles which will drain higher current,  we will need to be careful and pay some attention to selecting the correct type of extension cord;  otherwise,   the cable might not be big enough to "carry" the electric current or the load.  As a result,  the cable might be heated up over long hours of operation. The wiring insulation could melt causing electrical short-circuiting,  giving rise to fire incidents.

The better ones and branded ones will usually have a rating specified on the extension cords.  Most of them will have a rating capable to handle a maximum load of 13 A or 3,000 watts.  That would mean it could be used for an electric iron or a kettle which usually consumes about 4 to 5 amperes or 1,000 watts.

b)  Loading Distance

The household extension cords usually come in fixed-length of around 2, 3, or 5 meters;  some, 3 meters long;  extension cords the heavy-duty or the industrial type can be of lengths 20 meters or more.  Users do not usually have to worry about the cable ratings of extension cords so long as one is using the extension cords within the manufacturer's maximum specification.

Extension Cord Ratings & Safety Labels

Various countries have different statutory requirements or safety codes for the use and application of extension cords.   Most regulatory authorities will want the extension cords to comply with the local manufacturing safety standards.  Nonetheless, it is always wise for users to choose a brand that has a safety label sticker over those which neither give any ratings or brands or operating ratings.

What about DIY?

DIY is not any cheaper than those available off the shelves but if one needs a specific length of cable,   the only way is to design and self construct the extension cord.

What to look for?

The things to look at are about the same as the commercial extension cord except one will have to size up the cable.   One would need to size up the cable to handle not only the carrying load but also to account for the voltage drop caused by the cable.  

Take, for example,  a cable of a certain size that might work fine when the cable is short but might not even be enough to run the same appliance when the chosen cable is about 30 meters long. This is because the voltage at the receiving end might have dropped to below the acceptable limit for the proper running of the appliance.

How to size up the cable?

There are 3 common and different sizes of flexible cable one can easily buy off the shelves;  these are specified in the following manner under the imperial system:   23/0076 & 40/0076 & 70/0076 as follows.

The Technical specification of the flexible cable under the imperial system is as shown in the following.  There is also one for the metric system.

  

Column 3 of the table indicates the maximum ampere that the cable can carry and volume 4 and 5 indicates that voltage drops for the cable to carry the maximum ampere. For household application which is usually 1 phase ,  we will be looking at column 4 to size up the cable. 

Let's assume we have an electric iron consuming about 1 kW @ 220 Volts,   that is roughly 1000/220 or 4.5 amperes. The above table says 23/0076 can take up to 6 amperes which might be able to carry the load.  But in turn of voltage drop,  it will have 4.5/6*11 or 8.25 volts over 100 ft or 30 meters,  this is about 8.25/220 or 3.75% which is higher than 2.5% specified under the regulation, Therefore,  this cable is not suitable under such usage.

The next cable size (40/0076) will have 4.5/13*14/220 or 2.2% voltage drop.  It might just make it but the one size larger (70/0076) would be more suitable for prolonged hours of usage.

Testing

It is always good to ensure that the correct size of the cable has been selected for the operation by also measuring the temperature of the cable when it is under operation.   The cable temperature should not exceed 70^oC.   One should also ensure the cable is always installed according to the acceptable color code which is green/yellow for earth, blue for neutral, and brown color for the line or live cable.