Power Grid Recovery after Natural Hazard Impact

Natural hazards can affect the electricity supply and result in power outages which can trigger accidents, bring economic activity to a halt and hinder emergency response until electricity supply is restored to critical services. This study analyzes the impact of earthquakes, space weather and floods on the power grid recovery time. For this purpose, forensic analysis of the performance of the power grid during 16 earthquakes, 15 space weather events and 20 floods was carried out. The study concluded that different natural hazards affect the power grid in different ways. Earthquakes cause inertial damage to heavy equipment and brittle items, and ground failure and soil liquefaction can be devastating to electric infrastructure assets. Recovery time is driven by the balance of repairs and capabilities. Poor access to damaged facilities, due to landslides or traffic congestion, can also delay repairs. In this study, recovery time ranged from a few hours to months, but more frequently from 1 to 4 days. Floods are commonly associated with power outages. Erosion due to the floodwaters and landslides triggered by floods undermine the foundations of transmission towers. Serious, and often explosive, damage may occur when electrified equipment comes in contact with water, while moisture and dirt intrusion require time-consuming repairs of inundated equipment. Recovery time was driven by the number of needed repairs, and site access, as repairs cannot start until floodwaters have receded. In this study, power was back online from 24 hours up to 3 weeks after the flood. However, longer recovery times (up to 5 weeks) were associated with floods spawned by hurricanes and storms. Space weather affects transmission and generation equipment through geomagnetically induced currents (GICs). In contrast to earthquakes and floods, GICs have the potential to impact the entire transmission network. Delayed effects and the potential for system-wide impact were the main drivers of recovery time in this study. When damage is limited to tripping of protective devices, restoration time is less than 24 hours. However, repairs of damaged equipment may take up to several months. The study concludes with a number of recommendations related to policy, hazard mitigation and emergency management to reduce the risks of natural hazards to electric infrastructure and to improve crisis management in the aftermath of a natural disaster.JRC.E.2-Technology Innovation in Securit

Assessment of underlying capacity mechanism studies for Greece

The increased electricity production from variable sources in the EU combined with the overall decline in demand in recent years, have raised concerns about the security of electricity supply, in general, and in particular about generation adequacy and flexibility, prompting some Member States to consider new public interventions, the so-called capacity remuneration mechanisms. This work presents a review of the underlying capacity mechanism studies for Greece based on European best practices to highlight the latest developments and current trends.JRC.C.3-Energy Security, Distribution and Market

Redesigning the European electricity market

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sent gas prices to unprecedented highs. These price spikes spilled over to the electricity sector due to the marginal pricing mechanism – which mandates that the highest cleared bid sets the price in each market session. The reform proposals that are discussed range from the expansion of market-based instruments to a complete abolishment of marginal pricing, replacing it with pricing based on average production costs. We take up the ongoing discussion to explore possible market architectures. Therefore, we outline the main market design elements: - Reduce windfall profits in crisis situations through the expansion of two-sided CfDs for producers of low-carbon electricity - Redesigning auctions to drive the transformation towards carbon neutrality: a stronger reliance on auctions requires a better process to select projects. We conclude that a reform is more promising than setting up a completely new market architecture, as there are already in the current system instruments to achieve price resilience and a fast response in energy crises.JRC.C.3 - Energy Security, Distribution and Market

Local electricity flexibility markets in Europe

This report reviews some of the main projects on developing flexibility markets in Europe. The analysis focuses on cases aiming primarily on the provision of local flexibility services to Distribution System Operators through market-based instruments and the role of regulation in promoting the use of flexibility. Specifically, the following projects/markets have been reviewed where in parenthesis the country in which have been developed: Sthlmflex (Sweden) IntraFlex (UK) NorFlex (Norway) GOPACS (the Netherlands) Enera Flexmarkt (Germany) GB flexibility tenders by DSOs (UK) ENEDIS flexibility tenders (France) The following aspects are examined in more detail: Pre-qualification procedures, specification of flexibility products, the trading mechanism, and activation and settlement. Whenever possible information on traded volumes and prices has been gathered. Common characteristics as well as differences between the reviewed local flexibility markets are discussed, while current trends and challenges for the future are identified.JRC.C.3 - Energy Security, Distribution and Market

Making energy regulation fit for purpose. State of play of regulatory experimentation in the EU

In this report, we investigate the role of regulatory experimentation as an innovation tool to enable and facilitate the energy transition. Regulation can help to accelerate the adoption of innovative technologies, solutions and business models, thus reflecting the fast-changing environment that digitalisation and decarbonisation bring about, while continuing to empower and protect consumers. Regulators have a range of tools for engaging with and addressing innovation (e.g. regulatory sandboxes, regulatory pilot projects and pilot regulations). We analyse regulatory experimentation initiatives conducted in EU Member States to identify forms of regulatory experimentation adopted, areas of experimentation, stakeholders involved, emerging trends and lessons learned. The analysis, based on the existing literature, desk research and interviews with competent authorities, includes initiatives already implemented at national level, as well as those under development or still in the planning phase. Differences in national regulatory frameworks and a lack of uniform information on the assumptions, requirements, and results of the initiatives, hinder comparisons of national experience. An overview of the main developments, however, may help to show the direction EU Member States are taking and to reflect on the opportunity for providing EU level guidance to support the implementation of regulatory experimentation initiatives at national level.JRC.C.3 - Energy Security, Distribution and Market

Regional measures under risk preparedness in the electricity sector

Experiences of electricity outages pushed countries around the world to sign formal cooperation agreements and to establish supranational bodies to coordinate actions in the event of a crisis. In Europe, there are multiple examples of voluntary regional and bilateral cooperation between transmission system operators (TSOs). These voluntary agreements are often based on existing procedures implemented by the TSOs for emergency prevention and management. TSOs implement the operational measures applicable in case of emergency and often take initiatives to establish cross-border cooperation schemes. The risk preparedness regulation (RPR) puts together existing regulatory tools and the expertise and capabilities of EU Member States (MSs) in handling electricity crises at national, and across national borders level (regional dimension), while adding some important elements to strengthen the possibility of cooperation among MSs and between MSs and non-EU countries that are interconnected and part of the European synchronous: solidarity of a Member State with the technical ability to offer assistance to another Member State in crisis, with the final goal to protect public safety and personal security; a common EU-framework for the definition of national, regional, and bilateral measures to be included in the risk preparedness plans; cost-efficiency and effectiveness of the management of a crisis through cooperation, and efficient use of resources; legally binding rights and obligations of the parties of the assistance agreement; fairness of the remuneration of the assistance. In order to ensure a common approach to electricity crisis prevention and management, the RPR states that the competent authority of each Member State shall draw up a risk-preparedness plan on the basis of the information collected from various sources – i.e. the regional (with more MSs involved) and national electricity crisis scenarios ((artt. 10-11-12-13 of Regulation 2019/941), the short term adequacy assessment. The plan shall describe effective, proportionate, and non-discriminatory measures addressing all identified risks and adequacy issues. Finally, the plan shall also include the post-crisis activities of reporting and monitoring of the occurrences, in order to gather the lessons learnt from the event, and to improve the risk preparedness plans and management of future electricity crises. This study addresses the regional dimension of electricity crises management in the European Union and elaborates on the national and regional rules and procedures that are relevant for the definition of target measures and regional cooperation agreements. In this context, we identify the essential elements for the prevention, preparation for and management of a crisis as a practical guide for the preparation of the risk preparedness plan, with the objective to extend and develop the European Commission’s Recommendations (EU) 2020/1775 (European Commission, 2020b). This analysis is based on a number of regulatory documents - like the guideline on electricity transmission system operation and the network code on emergency and restoration - and other studies on the most frequent causes of outages, the associated effective remedial actions, the best practices in crisis management, and the economic impacts of electricity crises. The RPR recalls other EU legal frameworks that establish tools for the preparation and management of crises or platforms for cooperation between MSs, some of them beyond the energy field. It is important that competent authorities consult the existing platforms of cooperation and risk assessments. In the same way, it is important that the first risk preparedness plans build on existing cooperation structures and provide clear and transparent mechanisms of cooperation to increase its efficiency in case of need. In this study we also try to highlight the indirect effects of the RPR on the incentives towards cross-country cooperation, i.e. flexible international energy trade agreements, international joint investments that play a role in preventing or alleviating electricity crises, and costs and benefits sharing agreements between the cooperating parties.JRC.C.3 - Energy Security, Distribution and Market

Technical aspects of offshore wind farms employing doubly-fed induction generators

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Byzantium in museum and monument management from the 19th to the 21st century

This dissertation represents an original method of approaching the Byzantine heritage and its management. For the first time, the ideological treatment of Byzantium over the course of centuries extending from the Fall of Constantinople to the present is collected in a full-length, documented study, in conjunction with the diverse forms of managing it, specifically through monuments, museums, and exhibitions related to Byzantine culture over the past two centuries. From this standpoint, the dissertation covers a gap in the bibliography. Its aim is to demonstrate the supra-spatial and supra-temporal importance of “misunderstood” Byzantium through a research- and interpretation-based approach to practices connected with its museum and monumental management as well as individual ideologies linked with these practices. Interest in Byzantine culture both internationally and in Greece, variable over time, is analyzed and studied, with the result that it is finally restored within the global context. Museological and management parameters for the Byzantine heritage and its material remains are also investigated thoroughly, in combination with specific conjunctures of politics, events, people, and decisions that influenced in practice its ideologically turbulent promotion. The first part, divided into four sections, concerns the study and analysis of the theoretical approach to Byzantium as well as the ideological and practical management of its material evidence internationally and in Greece. Specifically, it addresses elements of the historical course of the Byzantine Empire, the ideologies and inspiration in each sector and place which these created over the course of centuries, and their survival in contemporary theoretical and practical management. In particular, museum-museological practice is analyzed by examining the organization of periodic exhibitions and the creation of Byzantine museums and other significant collections for managing the Byzantine heritage in Greece, Europe, and America. Within this context, more than 90 temporary Byzantium-themed exhibitions held throughout the world from 1859 to 2013 are investigated in the light of particular selection criteria, employing a comparable museological, museographic and political-ideological analysis.In the second part, which has two large sections, the practical management of the Byzantine material evidence is explored in detail through the selection of two important example cases of study: the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki and the Administrative unit of Byzantine Antiquities on Corfu. Analysis covers the different historical backgrounds of the two places, their different administrative status vis-à-vis the Archaeological Service, and related parameters through whose contribution each developed practices for monumental and museum promotion and management of Byzantium in the 20th century, with a focus on the abundant and decisive activity over the last twenty years. The study concludes with a synthetic afterword combining the theoretical and practical management of Byzantium and their ideological attribution.H διατριβή αποτελεί ένα πρωτότυπο τρόπο προσέγγισης της βυζαντινής κληρονομιάς και της διαχείρισής της. Για πρώτη φορά συγκεντρώνεται σε μία αυτούσια και τεκμηριωμένη μελέτη η ιδεολογική αντιμετώπιση του Βυζαντίου στην πορεία των αιώνων από την Άλωση μέχρι τις μέρες μας και μάλιστα σε συνδυασμό με την ποικιλότροπη διαχείρισή της, ειδικότερα μέσω των μνημείων, των μουσείων και των σχετικών με τον βυζαντινό πολιτισμό εκθέσεων, τους τελευταίους δύο αιώνες, καλύπτοντας από την άποψη αυτή ένα βιβλιογραφικό κενό.Στόχος της είναι να αποδείξει, την υπερτοπική και υπερχρονική σημασία του «παρεξηγημένου» Βυζαντίου, μέσα από την ερευνητική αλλά και ερμηνευτική προσέγγιση των πρακτικών, που συνδέθηκαν με την μουσειακή και μνημειακή του διαχείριση καθώς και την εκάστοτε συνδεδεμένη με αυτές ιδεολογία. Αναλύεται και μελετάται το κυμαινόμενο μέσα στο χρόνο ενδιαφέρον για το βυζαντινό πολιτισμό τόσο σε διεθνές όσο και ελληνικό επίπεδο, που είχε ως αποτέλεσμα την τελική αποκατάσταση του στο παγκόσμιο στερέωμα. Ερευνώνται επίσης διεξοδικά οι μουσειολογικές και διαχειριστικές παράμετροι της βυζαντινής κληρονομιάς και των τεκμηρίων της, σε συνδυασμό με τις εκάστοτε συγκυρίες πολιτικής, γεγονότων, ανθρώπων και αποφάσεων, που επηρέασαν την πολυκύμαντη ιδεολογικά ανάδειξη του στην πράξη. Το πρώτο μέρος, σε τέσσερεις ενότητες, αφορά στην μελέτη και ανάλυση της θεωρητικής προσέγγισης του Βυζαντίου καθώς και της ιδεολογικής και πρακτικής διαχείρισης των τεκμηρίων του στον διεθνή και τον ελληνικό χώρο. Ειδικότερα, πραγματεύεται τα στοιχεία της ιστορικής πορείας που διένυσε η Βυζαντινή Αυτοκρατορία, τις ιδεολογίες και την έμπνευση σε κάθε τομέα και χώρο, που αυτά δημιούργησαν στην πορεία των αιώνων και την επιβίωση τους στη σύγχρονη θεωρητική και πρακτική διαχείριση. Ιδιαίτερα αναλύεται η μουσειακή-μουσειολογική πρακτική μέσω της οργάνωσης των περιοδικών εκθέσεων ή μέσω ίδρυσης και συγκρότησης βυζαντινών μουσείων ή άλλων σημαντικών συλλογών διαχείρισης της βυζαντινής κληρονομιάς σε Ελλάδα, Ευρώπη και Αμερική. Στο πλαίσιο αυτό ερευνώνται με ανάλογη μουσειολογική, μουσειογραφική αλλά και πολιτικο-ιδεολογική ανάλυση 90 και πλέον περιοδικές εκθέσεις ανά τον κόσμο με θέμα το Βυζάντιο, από το 1859 έως το 2013 κάτω από ένα πρίσμα ειδικών κριτηρίων επιλογής. Στο δεύτερο μέρος, σε δύο μεγάλες ενότητες, ερευνάται διεξοδικά η έμπρακτη διαχείριση των τεκμηρίων του Βυζαντίου με την επιλογή δύο σημαντικών περιπτώσεων-παραδειγμάτων μελέτης, όπως είναι το Μουσείο Βυζαντινού Πολιτισμού Θεσσαλονίκης και η Υπηρεσιακή μονάδα των Βυζαντινών Αρχαιοτήτων Κέρκυρας. Αναλύεται το διαφορετικό ιστορικό υπόβαθρο των δύο τόπων, η διαφορετική διοικητική τους υπόσταση αναφορικά με την Αρχαιολογική Υπηρεσία καθώς και οι συγγενείς παράμετροι με τη συμβολή των οποίων ο καθένας ανέπτυξε πρακτικές μνημειακής και μουσειακής ανάδειξης και διαχείρισης του Βυζαντίου κατά τον 20ο αιώνα, με επίκεντρο την πλούσια και καταλυτική δραστηριότητα των τελευταίων είκοσι χρόνων. Η μελέτη ολοκληρώνεται με τον συνδυασμό της θεωρητικής αλλά και της πρακτικής διαχείρισης του Βυζαντίου και την ιδεολογική απόδοσή του σε έναν συνθετικό συμπερασματικό επίλογο

Smart Grid Energy Storage Controller for Frequency Regulation and Peak Shaving, using a Vanadium Redox Flow Battery

Grid connected energy storage systems are regarded as promising solutions for providing ancillary services to electricity networks and to play an important role in the development of smart grids. Thus far, the more mature battery technologies have been installed in pilot projects and studies have indicated their main advantages and shortcomings. The main concerns for wide adoption are the overall cost, the limited number of charging cycles (or lifetime), the depth of discharge, the low energy density and the sustainability of materials used. Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries (VRFB) are a promising option to mitigate many of these shortcomings, and demonstration projects using this technology are being implemented both in Europe and in the USA. This study presents a model using MATLAB/Simulink, to demonstrate how a VRFB based storage device can provide multi-ancillary services, focusing on frequency regulation and peak-shaving functions. The study presents a storage system at a medium voltage substation and considers a small grid load profile, originating from a residential neighbourhood and fast charging stations demand. The model also includes an inverter controller that provides a net power output from the battery system, in order to offer both services simultaneously. Simulation results show that the VRFB storage device can regulate frequency effectively due to its fast response time, while still performing peak-shaving services. VRFB potential in grid connected systems is discussed to increase awareness of decision makers, while identifying the main challenges for wider implementation of storage systems, particularly related to market structure and standardisation requirements.JRC.F.3 - Energy Security, Systems and Marke