Trial flexibility project looks to build GB power grid resilience

LONDON (ICIS)–New distribution level marketplace looks to help solve constraints within the GB power grid, which are becoming increasingly frequent as the penetration of renewable sources increases.

Led by energy tech firm Electron, project TraDER successfully launched its local energy trading market in the Orkney Islands earlier in the month.

Project TraDER aims to offer a blueprint to help develop grid resilience through the local level and then apply it on the national scale, to maximise system value.

The trading platform brings together generators and flexible assets, allowing excess generation to be matched with demand in places like Orkney where there is often an excess of renewable generation.

Speaking to ICIS in an interview, Jon Ferris, strategy director at Electron said “Orkney offers a unique location due to the high capacity of renewable generation and offshore grid connection, but in many ways the network is comparable to small towns and an indication of the challenges they will have to overcome.”

TraDER is designed to demonstrate how the need for flexibility in a system like Orkney can be managed by offering additional value to assets, acting as an analogue that can be applied to different markets.

“Despite the potential for growth on the islands, renewable generation has stalled and faces high levels of curtailment.

“They can now trade on our marketplace with demand-side assets like batteries and heaters when generation exceeds network capacity,” Ferris added.

FLEX REQUIREMENT

The need for increasing flexibility on the GB grid is not new. Much of Britain’s intermittent generation is located outside of the key demand centres, primarily in Scotland and Cornwall, which presents both stability and curtailment risk.

According to a recent study by consulting firm LCP, the UK risks losing upwards of 40GW due to curtailment.

These challenges are expected to increase as further wind capacity is built, especially in the northeast region, adding to the business case for greater flexibility across different levels in the grid.

Ferris said that the constraint management at both the transmission and distribution level can be integrated for better system optimisation.

“Flexibility from demand and generation connected to the local grid can impact both distribution and transmission level constraints and affect the national balance,” Ferris said.

These impacts can be exacerbated during periods of low demand . During the current coronavirus outbreak, transmission demand has fallen by an average of 18%, which has brought in the need for greater flexibility.

Part of the response by National Grid was a new ‘footroom’ service and signing of a contract for reduced nuclear output from EDF’s Sizewell B nuclear plant.

Ferris suggests that the TraDER platform offers another solution that integrates these constraints.

“One solution is for separate markets to address each of those needs, but they would need to be coordinated to ensure any conflicts are managed. The next stage of the project is to coordinate the distribution-level market in Orkney with markets at the national level to optimise for overall system value,” he said.

By removing curtailment risk and offering producers and offtakers additional revenue streams platforms like TraDER can help incentivise the buildout of renewable capacity if applied across the grid.

Distribution level marketplaces can also help to reduce the costs to reinforcing the grid as the renewable capacity increases. For example, if there is a local market that incentivises demand to match local generation then that avoids both the cost and need to reinforce the grid for that excess capacity.

Along with Electron, TraDER is a consortium of companies including Ovo-owned Kaluza, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, EDF UK, Energy Systems Catapult, Elexon and others.