Transmission & distribution |
National Grid and Smart Wires aim to reduce grid bottlenecks
National Grid is working with Smart Wires on a project to make better use of grid enhancing technologies like advanced power flow controllers, with the goal of reducing network congestion and maximising the potential of existing infrastructure. The Network Innovation Allowance funded project aims to develop a tool to co-ordinate the installation and operation of advanced power flow control (APFC) devices such as Smart Wires’ SmartValve™, to avoid network constraints and
boost the amount of clean power flowing. As electricity generation and demand decarbonises, the way power flows across the network is becoming more complex to manage, with transmission circuits easily becoming unequally loaded and less efficient. Technologies like APFCs can help resolve bottlenecks, intelligently pushing and pulling power across circuits in real-time and routing it to where capacity is available.
The new project’s aim is for the new tool to help co-ordinate the dispatch of existing APFCs on the network, while identifying the best locations for additional grid enhancing technologies – including dynamic line rating (DLR) – to be installed in the future.
CIGRE Paris Session 2024 SmartValves (photo: Smart Wires)
A major conference and exhibition for the world transmission & distribution community, expected to attract some 9000 delegates, the CIGRE Paris Session 2024, is due to take place from 25 to 30 August at the Palais des Congrès. This will be the 50th such biennial gathering held by CIGRE since its inception in France in 1921 (as Conseil International des Grands Réseaux Electriques). Held in even numbered years, CIGRE describes it as “the number one global power system event in the world,” bringing together some 9000 power industry participants from over 100 countries. The conference will include around 1200
new technical papers (listed in a 180 page technical programme, and covering a very wide range of topics*), plus workshops on key industry issues, including one on large
Following a project in 2019 to investigate the benefits of power flow controllers, National Grid installed SmartValves at three substations in northern England – Harker, Penwortham and Saltholme – to operate across five circuits, with a further installation in planning at South Shields.
Around £390 million is estimated to be saved over a seven-year period due to reduced constraint costs and avoided expenditure on new infrastructure build, with over 2GW of north- south power flow capacity being unlocked. Gary Stockdale, net zero innovation manager at National Grid Electricity Transmission, said: “This project will give us better insight to fully exploit the potential of grid enhancing technologies on our network, and boost the volume of clean power our circuits can carry around the country. National Grid is also currently trialling DLR technology on its network on a circuit between Penwortham and Kirkby, with line sensors and weather data analytics helping to increase the power-carrying limit of the line and potentially save consumers millions.
Ofgem’s Network Innovation Allowance provides an allowance to energy network licensees to fund innovation projects that have the potential to deliver longer term financial and environmental benefits for consumers.
network disturbances, which has proved a popular feature of previous Paris Sessions. Grid resilience is indeed a major theme of
the event, along with renewables integration, digitalisation, smart grid technologies and energy storage. The accompanying trade show is expected to bring together more than 300 technology and service providers. CIGRE says exhibitor interest is strong and it expects “a record turnout in 2024.” CIGRE describes itself as “a collaborative global community committed to the world’s leading knowledge development programme for the creation and sharing of power system expertise.” Further information
https://session.cigre.
org/the-session/
2024-paris-session.html *Main categories include: power generation
and electromechanical energy conversion; power transformers and reactors; transmission and distribution equipment; insulated cables; overhead lines; substations and electrical installations; systems and power electronics; protection and automation; power system development and economics; power system operation and control; power system sustainability and environmental performance; power system technical performance; electricity markets and regulation; active distribution systems and distributed energy resources; materials and emerging test techniques; information systems, telecommunications and cybersecurity.
Reforming transmission permitting in the USA
The Biden–Harris Administration has announced a final transmission permitting reform rule and a new commitment for up to $331 million aimed at adding more than 2000 MW of additional grid capacity. The rule establishes the Department of Energy’s Coordinated Interagency Transmission Authorizations and Permits (CITAP) Program, which aims to significantly improve federal environmental reviews and permitting processes for qualifying transmission projects. Under the CITAP Program, DOE will co- ordinate a federal integrated interagency
process to consolidate Federal environmental reviews and authorisations within a standard two-year schedule while ensuring meaningful engagement with tribes, local communities, and other stakeholders. This final rule, initiated and completed in under a year, implements a May 2023 interagency Memorandum of Understanding aiming to expedite the siting, permitting, and construction of electric transmission infrastructure in the United States. The $331 million of funding is available via the Biden Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to
26 | May 2024|
www.modernpowersystems.com
support a new transmission line from Idaho to Nevada, described as “the latest investment from the $30 billion that the Administration is deploying from the President’s Investing in America agenda to strengthen electric grid infrastructure.”
Over the past decade, transmission lines in the USA have been built at half the rate of the previous three decades, often due to permitting and financing challenges. The Biden-Harris Administration says it is aiming to tackle those challenges.
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