analysis - uk electricity quality drops as renewable share rises - electrical energy storage systems

LONDON (Reuters)-
The quality of electricity in the UK is declining as variable renewable energy generation is becoming an increasingly large component of the power supply, causing more flashes in the home and potentially causing power outages.
Because electricity is constantly flowing, the power grid needs to maintain a stable current, the so-called fault level.
Once the technology for storing power is in its infancy, the problem may not be solved, so balance the supply of renewable energy.
The British grid is balanced in the frequency range of 50Hz (Hz).
Any significant deviation above or below this level will affect the quality of the power supply, causing the home bulb to flash, and the worst case scenario is a power outage.
In the past, maintaining the frequency of 50Hz was not a big challenge, because electricity in the UK was generated by natural gas, nuclear energy and coal --
Thermal power plants controlled by a small number of utility companies.
However, industry experts warn that the increase in scattered and variable renewable energy production such as wind power makes it more difficult to maintain a stable frequency, reduces the quality of supply and may lead to a collapse of the power grid.
Network of European power transmission system operators (Entsoe)
Say a subsidy-
The rapid growth of renewable energy capacity in Europe coincides with the quality decline in power frequency.
Entsoe also said that the conflict between low renewable energy and major capacity disruptions such as power ties between France and the UK will "pose a serious risk to the system's collapse ".
"When you put more renewable energy into the system, you lose the flexibility, have more flashes, and also increase the threat of frequent interruptions," Andrew J ·S.
Headquartered in S & C Electric, a global provider of power system equipment and services.
"All you need is a connector or a big station, going out at the same time as the wind drops and you have a frequency --
Based on the fault, "Jones said. National Grid (NG. L)
The British power company, which operates the UK power transmission system, also warned that the quality of electricity would decline.
"The reduction in the level of failure weakens the overall strength of the network, which in turn leads to power quality problems such as large voltage steps, harmonics and flicker, the State Grid said in a recent power decade statement.
Ten years ago, Britain had little to no renewable energy installed, relying instead on a mix of natural gas, coal and nuclear power.
Today, about 10% of the UK's electricity comes from renewable energy, although this figure varies from weather to weather, and it is expected that Britain's share of renewable energy installed capacity will reach 20% by 2020.
Experts say the problem is not the reliability of renewable energy capacity itself, because countries with a high share of renewable energy --
Like Germany, Spain or Denmark
There are some of Europe's most stable power grids.
Instead, they say, the challenge is to find ways to integrate variable renewable energy into the grid without threatening the balance of the grid by causing frequency fluctuations.
"I think there is no empirical evidence that highly renewable power grids are inherently prone to increased frequency fluctuations.
If this occurs, it is usually due to the unsatisfactory design or operation, rather than renewable energy, ifdesigned and -
Run should generally improve frequency stability, "said Amory Lovins, chief scientist at the Rocky Mountain Institute, a resource consultancy.
The frequency of decline is caused by insufficient power production, and the frequency of increase is caused by excess power.
According to the dynamic demand of renewable energy consulting company, this frequency is about 48.
5Hz will result in a local power outage and a frequency of 52Hz or higher will cause the power station to trip and force the shutdown.
The State Grid said the last reported frequency incident occurred in 2008, when an unexpected loss of power generation capacity of 1,714 MW reduced the system frequency to 48. 15 Hz.
"These events resulted in the system frequency exceeding the statutory lower limit of the State Grid 49.
The State Grid said, "before that, there was another frequency anomaly in the 1990 s.
Data from Entsoe shows that in continental European countries with strong renewable energy capacity over the past 10 years, the duration and number of frequency events have also increased dramatically.
In order to solve this problem, most utilities are making plans to deal with sudden fluctuations in frequency, introducing so-
Known as the primary, secondary and tertiary control measures for balancing the grid.
These measures are from small scale to rapid (
Within 30 seconds)
Production adjusted to full
Start a scale emergency backup generator within 15 minutes of the event to respond to the sudden drop in frequency caused by changing renewable power generation.
The State Grid said the development of storage technology will help stabilize the grid.
"By improving the utilization rate of renewable energy, energy storage technology can play an important role in the operation of the transmission network. . .
Especially in terms of inertia and fast frequency response, "said the operator.
The first batch of such storage technologies are currently being tested, but industry experts say more is needed.
In December 2012, the British power network distribution company won 13 awards.
2 million ($21. 4 million)
Installation of 6 MW from Ofgem, UK energy regulator (MW)
Energy storage devices, to seek ways to improve the economy of energy storage.
"We need to install about 2,000 MW of storage capacity to prove the economy of power storage," said Andrew Jones of S & C Electric . ", But he added that more is needed to balance a 20% installed capacity from an unstable grid of renewable energy. ($1 = 0.
6162)(
The story, first published in October 4, has been amended to replace the word "untrustworthy" with "variable" in paragraphs 1 and 5 ";
And add balance paragraph 14-16)