National Grid ESO advances constraint management
New contracts awarded by GB’s National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) are aimed to maximise renewable generation on the system.
The contracts to ten companies cover fifteen generating units, including 14 windfarms and a battery storage unit, are to provide new ‘post fault’ services, which will enable the companies to be connected to constraint management equipment to maximise the renewable generation and reduce constraint costs on the key B6 English/Scottish border.
The contracts, which will run from October 2023 through to September 2024, are part of the ESO’s Constraints Management pathfinder project, which is intended to enable renewable generation to continue on the system rather than being pre-emptively curtailed.
Instead of paying constraint costs to turn off generation when there is the risk of a fault, the technology enabled through these contracts will provide an option of allowing generation to continue for longer.
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This should result in reduced constraint costs, with initial estimates of annual savings of £20 million to £40 million ($26 million to 53 million).
Of the 1.7GW procurement of transmission connected generation, up to 800MW is available to be tripped off at any one time.
When the ESO identifies a constraint on the B6 boundary, the generation is armed to be ready to reduce output in the event of a fault. This approach avoids constraining off the generation pre-emptively as is currently the case.
Should a fault occur, the generating units respond quickly, reducing their output within 150ms. The ESO will then reconnect the units to the system as quickly and safely as possible.
“These services give our control room more flexibility, enabling renewable generation to stay on the system for longer and taking us another step closer to 100% zero-carbon operation,” comments Julian Leslie, Head of Networks at National Grid ESO.
“They’re part of the ESO’s wide-ranging 5-point plan which will allow us to manage constraints on the system more effectively in the years ahead, reduce balancing costs and ultimately save consumers millions of pounds.”
The 5-point plan includes clearer forecasts on balancing services use of system costs, development of intertripping capability – of which the constraints management pathfinder project is a component, working with regional network operators on a ‘whole system’ approach, developing the potential for energy storage and ongoing improvements to the existing network.
