Grid matters

[dspp]

I was aware of this, which is now being reported.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/201 ... d-troubles

I'm pretty sure I have seen it reported before. Their plans were were extremely credible. Anyway this and similar issues probably deserve a thread of their own.

regards, dspp

[ReallyVeryFoolish]

More convenient, more impact, arguably easier and less risk of being caught blowing up major substations, I'd have thought? But then again, who knows how terrorists think about stuff.

[dspp]

More convenient, more impact, arguably easier and less risk of being caught blowing up major substations, I'd have thought? But then again, who knows how terrorists think about stuff.

The plans I saw actually were for the major HV substations, just as you suggest. I think to journalists this is what they call a "power station".

regards, dspp

[ReallyVeryFoolish]

More convenient, more impact, arguably easier and less risk of being caught blowing up major substations, I'd have thought? But then again, who knows how terrorists think about stuff.

The plans I saw actually were for the major HV substations, just as you suggest. I think to journalists this is what they call a "power station".

regards, dspp

That makes a lot more sense!

[supremetwo]

It is in the BBC documentary series, Spotlight on the Troubles: A Secret History

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0008c4b

Though the cynic in me wonders at the timing of its transmission - a Brexit frightener?

[XFool]

The plans I saw actually were for the major HV substations, just as you suggest. I think to journalists this is what they call a "power station".

There is course one such - connecting North London to the grid - quite near to the old Inglis Barracks in North London, which the IRA bombed in 1988.

[XFool]

It is in the BBC documentary series, Spotlight on the Troubles: A Secret History

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0008c4b

Though the cynic in me wonders at the timing of its transmission - a Brexit frightener?

Groan!

[dspp]

courtesy JohnKempReuters

The value of international electricity trading

(Ofgem) commissioned University College
London (UCL) in May 2019 to conduct research regarding cross-border electricity trading
between Great Britain and connected European Union markets,

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/sustaina ... _final.pdf

- dspp

[dspp]

National Grid warns of short supply of electricity over next few days
System operating at reduced capacity due to low wind speeds and unplanned power plant outages
“Unusually low wind output coinciding with a number of generator outages means the cushion of spare capacity we operate the system with has been reduced,” the company told its Twitter followers.

“We’re exploring measures and actions to make sure there is enough generation available to increase our buffer of capacity.”

A spokeswoman for National Grid said the latest electricity supply squeeze was not expected to be as severe as recorded last month, and added that the company did not expect to issue an official warning in the next 24 hours.


etc

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... t-few-days

- dspp

[88V8]

As we get more 'renewables' we're going to need an awful lot of batteries for those days when the wind don't blow and the sun don't shine.
It would be nice to think that some panjandrum has a strategic plan for the alignment of greening and storage.

V8

[dspp]

Thread updated to be "Grid matters", dspp

[dspp]

If you recall the outage last year in mostly eastern England this is one of the matters arising, dspp

(courtesy JohnKempReuters)

new inertia measurement tools planned for Great Britain’s electricity system

https://www.nationalgrideso.com/news/so ... ity-system

-----
11th December 2020 - Balancing the grid

As Electricity System Operator it’s our job to keep the grid stable, including managing its key properties such as voltage or frequency – and, increasingly, levels of something called inertia.

Our electricity control room is developing two new tools to manage this key characteristic – part of a pioneering world first approach to measuring and managing power grid inertia.

In this blog, the Head of our Control room Rob Rome explains more.

First things first – what is inertia?
If you look in the dictionary, inertia is defined as an object’s tendency to continue in its existing state of rest or motion. In other words, it stays still if it’s still, or keeps it moving if it’s moving. For moving objects, only an external force (like friction) will make it stop.

This makes inertia incredibly important to the stable operation of the electricity system. Many generators producing electricity for the grid have spinning parts – they rotate at the right frequency to help balance supply and demand, and then can spin faster or slower if needed.

The kinetic energy ‘stored’ in these spinning parts is our system inertia. If there’s a sudden change in system frequency, these parts will carry on spinning – even if the generator itself has lost power – and will slow down that change (what we call the rate of change of frequency) while our control room restores balance.

Inertia behaves a bit like the shock absorbers in your car’s suspension, which dampen the effect of a sudden bump in the road and keep your car stable and moving forward.

What’s the new approach?
The calculations we currently use for inertia management (monitoring which transmission-connected generators are running and adding an estimate of inertia from embedded generation and demand) help make our system one of the most reliable in the world.

However, the increase in renewable generation means this is becoming more complex and it’s important we continue to plan for the future. Working in partnership with Reactive Technologies and GE Digital we have developed two new approaches due to go live in our electricity control room in the coming months.

[dspp]

"NREL and several collaborating institutions have published the Research Roadmap on Grid-Forming Inverters, a comprehensive guide to understanding inverter-dominated power systems.

The roadmap provides a system-wide perspective on the integration of inverter-based resources. The report distinguishes between grid-following inverter controls, which depend on traditional generation to operate, and grid-forming measures, which enable inverters to operate flexibly within either hybrid or 100% inverter-based power systems. Although grid-following controls are more commonplace, the roadmap explores the needs and next steps toward implementing grid-forming inverter controls and capabilities, which are expected to define future power systems."

https://www.tdworld.com/test-and-measur ... 6625890F1B

https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy21osti/73476.pdf

- dspp

[scotview]

dspp,
Interesting nrel document, a wee glimpse at our future. Will grid forming inverter systems put more responsibility on consumers or suppliers for power factor correction? PF and it's correction seems to be important for stability and to wring every ounce of juice out of a grid that may rely on battery storage during low generation periods.

But maybe I have misunderstood.