Column: Going Green
Creating a more flexible, sustainable energy grid
By Garry Forfar, Energy & Infrastructure Sales Manager, COPA-DATA UK
I
t’s a challenging time for grid operators. Te share of renewable energy in the UK’s energy- generation mix is rising, but a reliance on weather-dependent
renewables results in a more volatile energy supply. In fact, there was a 4% decrease in the proportion of energy generated by renewables in 2021 compared to 2020, entirely due to less favourable weather conditions. Tis volatility has been further exacerbated by disruption to natural gas supply chains. To compensate for this lack of renewable energy, the UK government has had to restart gas- and coal-fired power stations.
DC grids To ensure the national energy grid continues to function, operators are turning to alternative technologies, such as direct current (DC) infrastructure. DC offers greater efficiency than AC, and it can be used alongside existing infrastructure, making it a great way to add capacity and resilience to the grid, without investing in new substations and connectors. Equally, governments are investigating
DC for their green ambitions. For most countries to hit their carbon emission targets, they need to generate much more renewable energy. DC could also offer a more straight- forward way to facilitate smart or
08 June 2022
www.electronicsworld.com
microgrid applications. For example, it reduces the number of conversion steps between DC sources and loads, and eliminates the need for frequency synchronisation. Each conversion step results in power losses, so operating a purely DC system increases efficiency. DC grids rely much more heavily on
power converters to adjust the required voltage. Power converters introduce greater flexibility and controllability, ideal for use with renewable energy and in smart microgrids. Tis way, DC offers the potential for decentralised and therefore more resilient microgrids, more efficient systems, streamlined infrastructure and more capacity for renewable energy generation and storage.
EVs Parallel to the renewable energy transition is the growth of electric vehicles (EVs). Te project ‘DC Share’ by Western Power aims to facilitate rapid EV charging, key to the uptake of EVs. Tis smart DC network uses the available latent capacity across multiple distribution substations in constrained areas. Te substations are connected to DC converters and high-capacity DC links. Te project uses DC to optimise existing
assets and minimise the impact of clusters of rapid charging points on the wider grid. Ten there’s project TIGON, which
involves 15 partners from eight member states across the European Union (EU).
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48
