Challenges of Primary Frequency Control and Benefits of Primary Frequency Response Support from Electric Vehicles

As the integration of wind generation displaces conventional plants, system inertia provided by rotating mass declines, causing concerns over system frequency stability. This paper implements an advanced stochastic scheduling model with inertia-dependent fast frequency response requirements to investigate the challenges on the primary frequency control in the future Great Britain electricity system. The results suggest that the required volume and the associated cost of primary frequency response increase significantly along with the increased capacity of wind plants. Alternative measures (e.g. electric vehicles) have been proposed to alleviate these concerns. Therefore, this paper also analyses the benefits of primary frequency response support from electric vehicles in reducing system operation cost, wind curtailment and carbon emissions

Scenarios for the development of smart grids in the UK: literature review

Smart grids are expected to play a central role in any transition to a low-carbon energy future, and much research is currently underway on practically every area of smart grids. However, it is evident that even basic aspects such as theoretical and operational definitions, are yet to be agreed upon and be clearly defined. Some aspects (efficient management of supply, including intermittent supply, two-way communication between the producer and user of electricity, use of IT technology to respond to and manage demand, and ensuring safe and secure electricity distribution) are more commonly accepted than others (such as smart meters) in defining what comprises a smart grid. It is clear that smart grid developments enjoy political and financial support both at UK and EU levels, and from the majority of related industries. The reasons for this vary and include the hope that smart grids will facilitate the achievement of carbon reduction targets, create new employment opportunities, and reduce costs relevant to energy generation (fewer power stations) and distribution (fewer losses and better stability). However, smart grid development depends on additional factors, beyond the energy industry. These relate to issues of public acceptability of relevant technologies and associated risks (e.g. data safety, privacy, cyber security), pricing, competition, and regulation; implying the involvement of a wide range of players such as the industry, regulators and consumers. The above constitute a complex set of variables and actors, and interactions between them. In order to best explore ways of possible deployment of smart grids, the use of scenarios is most adequate, as they can incorporate several parameters and variables into a coherent storyline. Scenarios have been previously used in the context of smart grids, but have traditionally focused on factors such as economic growth or policy evolution. Important additional socio-technical aspects of smart grids emerge from the literature review in this report and therefore need to be incorporated in our scenarios. These can be grouped into four (interlinked) main categories: supply side aspects, demand side aspects, policy and regulation, and technical aspects.

Review of trends and targets of complex systems for power system optimization

Optimization systems (OSs) allow operators of electrical power systems (PS) to optimally operate PSs and to also create optimal PS development plans. The inclusion of OSs in the PS is a big trend nowadays, and the demand for PS optimization tools and PS-OSs experts is growing. The aim of this review is to define the current dynamics and trends in PS optimization research and to present several papers that clearly and comprehensively describe PS OSs with characteristics corresponding to the identified current main trends in this research area. The current dynamics and trends of the research area were defined on the basis of the results of an analysis of the database of 255 PS-OS-presenting papers published from December 2015 to July 2019. Eleven main characteristics of the current PS OSs were identified. The results of the statistical analyses give four characteristics of PS OSs which are currently the most frequently presented in research papers: OSs for minimizing the price of electricity/OSs reducing PS operation costs, OSs for optimizing the operation of renewable energy sources, OSs for regulating the power consumption during the optimization process, and OSs for regulating the energy storage systems operation during the optimization process. Finally, individual identified characteristics of the current PS OSs are briefly described. In the analysis, all PS OSs presented in the observed time period were analyzed regardless of the part of the PS for which the operation was optimized by the PS OS, the voltage level of the optimized PS part, or the optimization goal of the PS OS.Web of Science135art. no. 107

Impact assessment of frequency support by electric vehicles: Great Britain scenario 2025

A desire to reduce environmental pollution coupled with advances in battery technology are some of the drivers for the massive growth in the use of Electric Vehicles (EVs) worldwide. The objective of this paper is to assess the impact that large groups of EVs, connected to frequency-responsive charging stations, have on the frequency response of the Great Britain (GB) power system during a sudden generation loss event. The assessment considers the minimum expected system’s rotational inertia and the predicted EV charging demand in GB for the year 2025. The developed model employs a representative block for the EV clusters which are formed based on the type of frequency support service they can provide. The effects of the expected EV penetration, type of EV charging, charger delay and sensitivity of the control are evaluated. OPAL-RT has been used to run the simulation and perform the assessment. The simulation results highlighted the positive effects of employing EVs as a distributed energy storage system (DESS) in regards to the system frequency response (SFR)

The UK Transport Carbon Model : An integrated life cycle approach to explore low carbon futures

Peer reviewedPostprin

Plugging the gap – can planned infrastructure address resistance to adoption of electric vehicles?

Non peer reviewe

Assessment of the Impact of Frequency Containment Control and Synthetic Inertia on Intermittent Energies Generators Integration

International audienceThe increasing power generation out of intermittent renewable energy sources will result in a reduction of the grid stability if no compensatory actions are taken. This issue may lead to future obligations for energy providers. This paper studies the implication of the future obligations for generators in Europe according to the recommendations of ENTSO-E, in particular the obligation for some generators to have a synthetic (or virtual) inertia and a frequency sensitive control. These obligations will be described in details in the paper, in particular their effect on the grid management and stability. The impact of this new actions on the energy production will be discussed. The continental European grid frequency is used as an example

Integrated decarbonisation strategies for the electricity, heat, and transport sectors

The rapid climate change experienced at the beginning of the twenty-first century is intimately entwined with the increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions resulting from the growth of fossil fuel consumption in all energy sectors. By 2050, not only these energy sectors must eliminate GHG emissions: electricity, heat, transport, but also those sectors should be closely coupled to achieve maximum synergy effects and efficiency. In this context, this thesis develops integrated models to assess decarbonisation strategies for a variety of complex energy system transitions, including the electricity, heat and transport sectors. Firstly, the thesis proposes a novel single-year, integrated electricity, heat and transport sectors model that considers integrating the hydrogen supply chain while optimising the system’s investment and operation costs and covers both local and national levels. A series of studies are then carried out to evaluate different integrated decarbonisation strategies for the future low-carbon energy system based on the single-year integrated multi-energy optimisation model. Secondly, this thesis evaluates the economic performance and system implications of different road-transport decarbonisation strategies and analyses the electricity sector decarbonisation synergy. Great Britain (GB) case study suggests that transport electrification should be carried out with smart charging to reduce the additional cost on the electricity sector expansion. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (HFCV) can be combined with electric vehicle (EV) to reduce the system of increased peak demand due to road transport’s electrification. However, when EV enables smart charging, the case for HFCV becomes less compelling from a system perspective. Their penetration is limited by their higher capital costs and lower efficiency compared to EV. The results also clearly demonstrate a synergy between the hydrogen used in the electricity and transport sector. The integration of hydrogen-fuelled generation can reduce the overall system cost by enabling more investment in renewable energy and reduce the need for the firm but high-cost low-carbon generation technologies, particularly nuclear and gas with carbon capture and storage (CCS). The integration of power-to-gas (P2G) facilities can increase the integration of wind power capacity. Additionally, the heat sector’s decarbonisation is one of the key challenges in achieving the net-zero target by 2050. This thesis evaluates the integrated decarbonisation strategies for the electricity, heat and transport sectors involving hydrogen integration. A study compares the economic advantages under the deployments of P2G hydrogen production and gas-to-gas (G2G) hydrogen production and the associated implications for overall system planning and operation. The results demonstrate that hydrogen integration through the G2G process brings more economic benefits than the P2G process; combining P2G with G2G can yield further cost savings. The results also clearly show the changes in the electricity side driven by the different hydrogen integration strategies. The integration of hydrogen will promote hydrogen boiler (HB) deployment, which will dominate the heating market, combined with the heat pump (HP). From the perspective of the transport sector, the development of HFCV is positively related to the integration cost of the hydrogen system, especially in the demanding carbon scenario. Going further, the single-year, multi-energy integrated optimisation model has limitations, focusing only on short-term investment operations and unable to deal with the long-term system planning problem. Therefore, this thesis presents a novel transition model for the electricity, heat and transport sectors, operating in full hourly resolution and taking into account sectoral coupling, simulating future energy systems’ transition to low-carbon energy production. Finally, considering the different difficulties and speeds of transition in the different energy sectors and the complementary effects between energy sectors, designing individual sector transition cannot provide a systematic view, as the most valuable sector coupling effects are overlooked, and sector separation consideration underestimates the complexity of the optimal transition pathway. This thesis designs three integrated energy system transition pathways based on the multi-year transition model, placing sector coupling and considering a full range of low-carbon technologies, enabling fundamental insights into the optimal energy system transition pathway to achieve the net-zero target by 2050. The GB case study results demonstrate that electrification combined with hydrogen integration will be the most cost-effective pathway. Hybrid heating technologies and EV will be the leading options in the heat and transport sector for decarbonisation. Bioenergy will play an essential role to offset carbon emissions from the other energy sectors. Cross-energy flexibility is vital to achieving a cost-effective transition pathway. Based on the above results, the policy recommendations for the net-zero target achieving can be made for policymakers.Open Acces