Load-following Operating Mode at Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) and Incidence on Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Costs - Compatibility with Wind Power Variability

In this report the capability of nuclear power plants to adapt to the demand is examined and several types of regulations needed for this are explained. From design there exists a power fluctuation margin and this is also an important characteristic of the design rules agreed upon by the European Utility Requirements (EUR rules) that should apply to the new builds in Europe. In the last chapter of this report the fluctuation margins as needed from wind farms are estimated from the experience gained in the wind turbines installations from Scandinavia and from the US. This allows an estimation of the compatibility of wind and nuclear generating units in a geographic area. A central point of this study was to consider to what extent the contribution of NPPs to grid regulation impairs their economical profitability due to possible higher O&M costs. In a liberalised electricity market price components are not communicated. Consequently no precise cost data were available and the study is based on personal communication and on aggregated data from an IAEA database collecting yearly average loss of production of NPPs worldwide. The study shows that the supplementary O&M costs due to load-following like operating mode can be majored by 2% of the theoretical available capacity of a power plant. These supplementary costs allow a power plant to be eligible for regulation which is associated with much higher electricity prices than if the unit is always producing base-load electricity. The conclusion may need to be reconsidered in case of a larger share of intermittent electricity generation. The decisive factor on this is the price at which reserve capacity is to be sold. This will be the adjustment factor and this last is more dependent on the share of the intermittent energy than of the nature of the backup plants.JRC.DDG.F.5-Safety of present nuclear reactor

Cost-benefit analysis of Smart Grid projects: Isernia: Costs and benefits of Smart Grid pilot installations and scalability options

Smart Grid pilot projects and their assessment through a cost-benefit analysis are crucial to ensure that Smart Grid and Smart Metering roll-out are economically reasonable and cost-effective. Analysing the Isernia pilot project, the key result of the investigation is that an extra remuneration for such ambitious projects has been crucial in turning the Distribution System Operator’s Return on Investment (RoI) positive.JRC.C.3-Energy Security, Distribution and Market

Impact of Variable Renewable Energy on European Cross-Border Electricity Transmission

The estimated growth of Europe’s electricity demand and the policy goals of mitigating climate change result in an expected increase in variable renewable energy. A high penetration of wind and solar energy will bring several new challenges to the European electricity transmission network. The objective of this paper is to understand the effects of a high penetration of variable renewable energy sources (RES) on the demand for cross-border electricity transmission in Europe. EUPowerDispatch, a minimum cost dispatch model is used to compare the impacts of different electricity generation and transmission portfolios on cross-border electricity transmission in 2025. The analysis makes use of the best-estimate scenario developed by the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E). Wind and solar energy curtailment needs and variations in load duration curves are analyzed for different scenarios. In addition, the role of hydro energy storage and pumping is analyzed as a complementary technology to transmission in the context of a high penetration of variable RES. The study shows that the planned expansion of the European transmission network is adequate for meeting the expected RES increase and it is needed to maintain the current level of security of supply in the face of the expected demand growth. If RES growth is faster than expected, cross-border transmission capacity will have to increase accordingly if significant RES curtailment is to be avoided.JRC.F.3-Energy securit

Framework for Electric Vehicles and Photovoltaic Synergies

Historically road transport has been exclusively dominated by petrol and diesel engines. Both alternatives are proved to be unsustainable due to their environmental impacts and the limited nature of their primary resources. Today’s transportation sector in the European Union (EU) accounts for 23% of CO2 emissions, 72% of which is being emitted by road transport. The European Union’s CO2 emission regulation for new cars, has come as a response to set emission performance limits for new passenger cars with the goal of establishing a road map change for automotive sector. Furthermore, the EU has set challenging targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% in 2030 (relative to emissions in 1990) and for energy consumed to be generated at least with 27% from renewable sources in 2030. As regards energy efficiency, the 2030 framework also indicated that the cost-effective delivery of the greenhouse gas emissions reduction target for 2030 would require increased energy savings of the order of 27%. The renewable energy directive particularly identified: technological innovation, energy efficiency and contribution of renewable energy sources in transport sector as one of the most effective tools in reaching the expected targets in terms of sustainability and security of the supply. In such context it is obvious that reaching these challenges will be certainly depending on the rollout of Electric Vehicles (EV) as a mean of sustainable transport, higher penetration of distributed renewable energy sources. One consequential challenge will consist in accommodating such paradigm in the most cost-efficient fashion through active involvement of customer and better flexibility of the demand. This report highlights the current trends and expected evolution in the EU in term of electromobility, Photovoltaic (PV) systems and smart grids, with the aim of identifying mutual synergies aiming at enabling: energy efficiency, sustainable transport and higher share of renewable energy sources in the final energy mix. A technical conceptual architecture for integration of EV facilities and distributed generation sources in the context of smart grid is proposed to identify the predictable penetration limits of PV systems and EV users.JRC.F.3-Energy Security, Systems and Marke

Insights from the Inventory of Smart Grid Projects in Europe: 2012 Update

By the end of 2010 the Joint Research Centre, the European Commission’s in-house science service, launched the first comprehensive inventory of smart grid projects in Europe1. The final catalogue was published in July 2011 and included 219 smart grid and smart metering projects from the EU-28 member states, Switzerland and Norway. The participation of the project coordinators and the reception of the report by the smart grid community were extremely positive. Due to its success, the European Commission decided that the project inventory would be carried out on a regular basis so as to constantly update the picture of smart grid developments in Europe and keep track of lessons learnt and of challenges and opportunities. For this, a new on-line questionnaire was launched in March 2012 and information on projects collected up to September 2012. At the same time an extensive search of project information on the internet and through cooperation links with other European research organizations was conducted. The resulting final database is the most up to date and comprehensive inventory of smart grids and smart metering projects in Europe, including a total of 281 smart grid projects and 90 smart metering pilot projects and rollouts from the same 30 countries that were included in the 2011 inventory database. Projects surveyed were classified into three categories: R&D, demonstration or pre-deployment) and deployment, and for the first time a distinction between smart grid and smart metering projects was made. The following is an insight into the 2012 report.JRC.F.3-Energy securit

Distributed Power Generation in Europe: Technical Issues for Further Integration

The electric power sector in Europe is currently facing different changes and evolutions mainly in response to the three issues at EU level - environmental sustainability, security of supply, and competitiveness. These issues, against a background of growing electricity demand, may represent drivers for facilitating the further deployment of Distributed Power Generation technologies in Europe. The present Report focuses on the potential role of Distributed Power Generation (or simply Distributed Generation, DG) in a European perspective. More specifically, this work aims to assess the technical issues and developments related to DG technologies and their integration into the European power systems. As a starting point the concept of Distributed Generation is characterised for the purpose of the study. Distributed Generation, defined as an electric power source connected to the distribution network, serving a customer on-site or providing network support, may offer various benefits to the European electric power systems. DG technologies may consist of small/medium size, modular energy conversion units, which are generally located close to end users and transform primary energy resources into electricity and eventually heat. There are, however, major issues concerning the integration of DG technology into the distribution networks. In fact, the existing distribution networks were not generally designed to operate in presence of DG technologies. Consequently, a sustained increase in the deployment of DG resources may imply several changes in the electric power system architecture in the near future. The present Report on Distributed Generation in Europe, after an overview of the basic elements of electric power systems, introduces the proposed definition and main features of DG. Then, it reviews the state-of-the-art of DG technologies as well as focuses on current DG grid integration issues. Technical solutions towards DG integration in Europe and developments concerning the future distribution systems are also addressed in the study.JRC.F.7-Energy systems evaluatio

Nodal Pricing in the European Internal Electricity Market

This report summarises the findings of a project, awarded to Tractebel-Engie, to analyse the possibility and the effects of implementing nodal pricing in the European Internal electricity market based on the current and proposed legal framework. The report presents the origins and organisation of nodal pricing and the documented costs and benefits and describes the implementation challenges of applying nodal pricing in the EU.JRC.C.3-Energy Security, Distribution and Market

An experimental approach for assessing the harmonic impact of fast charging electric vehicles on the distribution systems

Fast charging is seen by users as a preferential way for electric vehicles (EV) to extend average daily mobility. Fast chargers rated power, their expected operation mostly during peak hours and clustering in designated stations, raise significant concerns. On one hand it raises concerns about power quality standard requirements, especially harmonic distortion due to the use of power electronics connecting to high loads typically ranging from 18-24 kWh, and on the other hand infrastructure dimensioning and design for those investing on such facilities. We performed four sets of measurements during an EV complete fast charging cycles and analysed individual harmonic’s amplitude and phase angles behaviour and calculated the voltage and current total harmonic distortion (THD) and Total Demand Distortion (TDD) comparing it with IEEE519, IEC 61000/EN50160 standards. Additionally, we simulated, two vehicles being fast charged while connected to the same feeder, and analysed how the harmonic phase angles would relate. We concluded that the use of TDD was a better indicator than THD since the first one uses the maximum current (IL) and the latter uses the fundamental current, sometimes misleading conclusions, hence suggested to be included in IEC/EN standard updates. Voltage THD and TDD for the analysed charger, were within the standards limitations 1.2% and 12% respectively, however individual harmonics (11th and 13th ) failed to comply with the 5.5% limit in IEEE 519 (5% and 3% respectively in IEC61000). Phase angles tended to have preferential range differences from the fundamental. We found that the average difference between the same harmonic order phase angles, are lower than 90°, meaning that when more than one vehicle is connected to the same feeder the amplitudes will tend to add. Since the limits are dependable on the upstream short circuit current (ISC), if the number of vehicles increase (i.e. IL), the standard limits will decrease and eventually are broken. The harmonic limitation is hence a first binding condition, well before the power limitation is. The number of chargers will be limited first not by the power capacity of the upstream power circuit but by the harmonic limits for electric pollution.JRC.F.3-Energy Security, Systems and Marke

Smart grid projects outlook 2017: facts, figures and trends in Europe

The 2017 Outlook offers a snapshot of the state of play and of the latest developments in the field of smart grids in Europe. The analysis is based on a database of 950 R & D and demonstration projects, totalling around EUR 5 billion of investment. It aims to foster knowledge sharing and to inform future policymaking.JRC.C.3-Energy Security, Distribution and Market

A Smart Grid for the city of Rome: A Cost Benefit Analysis

In this work, the JRC applies its Smart Grid CBA methodology to a full-scale project rather than only to a small-size demonstrative one. To this end, the JRC and ACEA - one of Italy’s biggest Distribution System Operators (DSOs), in charge of managing the distribution system of Rome - teamed up to study the merits of deploying Smart Grid technologies (preliminarily tested in a pilot project) in a big city like the Italian capital, hosting several million electricity users. The ACEA Smart Grid Pilot Project (named "Malagrotta" after the area where pilot solutions were first realised) is the starting point for this study, as it displays many of the characteristics of emerging Smart Grids projects and interconnects several diversified generation facilities (like biogas, waste-to-electricity and PV plants) and consumption centres. This study illustrates the outcome of the application of the JRC Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) to a) the ACEA Smart Grids pilot project; and b) the planned deployment of Smart Grid technologies (tested in the ACEA Smart Grids pilot project) to the whole of the city of Rome. The CBA is conducted from both the private investor’s and the societal perspective, in order to assess whether scaling up the Smart Grid pilot project benefits the distribution operator and the citizens. Finally, this report shows how the JRC's CBA methodology can be effectively used to assess the financial and economic viability of real Smart Grids projects and help the investment decisions of DSOs.JRC.F.3-Energy Security, Systems and Marke