Ireland’s EirGrid introduces power flow control tools

Irish transmission system operator (TSO) EirGrid has collaborated with Smart Wires on solutions to increase the renewable capacity of its networks.

The two-year, almost €300,000 (US$318,000) project, which was supported by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, was focussed on the development and demonstration of advanced decision support tools to optimise the settings of power flow control devices across the grid.

With such support, EirGrid – and other system operators – are able to move towards smarter and increasingly more automated grid operations by quickly solving bottlenecks and grid issues. This way, they can create capacity for the increasing volume of new renewable energy and wide-scale electrification.

“At EirGrid, we need to make the grid stronger and more flexible so it’s ready to carry up to 80% of Ireland’s electricity from renewable sources by 2030,” said Mark Foley, Chief Executive of EirGrid.

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“Cutting-edge tools like these support optimal use of the electricity grid by enabling control centre operators to better use the technology available.”

EirGrid has identified power flow controllers – commonly known in the US under the name ‘grid enhancing technologies’ – as a potential network optimisation and reinforcement option in its electricity future roadmap reviewing solutions that can play a role in achieving Ireland’s energy and climate ambitions.

During the project, Smart Wires also collaborated with EPRI and system operators globally to test prototypes and to gather industry feedback on the tools, which are built to be modular and platform agnostic so they can be easily used by other TSOs globally.

Smart Wires CEO Peter Wells said the project was a great opportunity to collaborate closely with EirGrid and other TSOs on the potential of grid enhancing technologies.

“We’re seeing strong momentum globally in the uptake of these technologies to unlock the full potential of today’s grids, and tools like this further support this movement”.

The choice of digital devices such as Smart Wires’ SmartValve to provide power control also provides the opportunity to utilise dynamic services such as improving transient stability and voltage stability, which further supports the transition to a digital grid with high levels of intermittent renewable energy.