Potentials and Technical Requirements for the Provision of Ancillary Services in Future Power Systems with Distributed Energy Resources

A decentralized supply of electrical power based on renewable energies paves the way to a sustainable power supply without nuclear energy and without the emission of greenhouse gases. This energy transition (Energiewende) entails challenges regarding the provision of Ancillary Services (AS), associated with intermittent in-feed of Distributed Energy Resources (DER) into the distribution grids. In this paper, the demand, potentials, and technical requirements for AS provision in Germany, especially in the state of Lower Saxony, are discussed. These aspects are considered from multiple perspectives across all voltage levels. Beginning with a steady state analysis that focuses on the transmission grid, an expected increment in voltage violations and line congestions is revealed. Counteracting the resulting technical limit violations requires consideration of distribution grid flexibilities among others. To address this emerging demand, the potentials for the provision of AS by components in the distribution grids are identified. However, technical concepts are also required to exploit the potential, as DER in-feed has significant impact on the functionality of conventional protection systems. The analysis in this paper indicates the need for development of concepts to provide AS in the distribution grid and detailed technical requirements within a holistic simulative approach

Research Projekt SiNED Insights - Ancillary services for Reliable Power Grids in times of the Progressive German Energiewende and Digital Transformation

Ancillary services in future power systems have to be provided by decentralized distributed energy resources, resulting in various, interdisciplinary issues. Focusing on the three competence areas (Electrical Power Engineering, Digital Transformation/Information and Communication Technology, and Energy Law and Economics), insights for the central research goals of the project are presented (after three of five years of project duration). While results indicate, that the future ancillary services demand of a climate-neutral power system can be supplied with further developments, open questions and issues still remain. The interdisciplinary studies of the SiNED consortium show that it will be possible to provide ancillary services also from the lower voltage levels, both technically and economically. These results and the necessary regulatory frameworks are discussed in this paper

SiNED-Ancillary Services for Reliable Power Grids in Times of Progressive German Energiewende and Digital Transformation

Within SiNED research project, several members of the Energy Research Centre of Lower Saxony (Energieforschungszentrum Niedersachsen, EFZN) are working on various issues relating to the future provision of ancillary services and to future congestion management. The questions include energy technology, economic and energy law aspects as well as information and communications technology (ICT) and data. The investigations are based on Lower Saxony and the framework conditions there. The temporal focus of the investigations is the year 2030