Controlling Grids with Renewables and Energy Storage
(Room Arena 1)
19 Jun 18
4:00 PM
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5:30 PM
Tracks:
Arena 1: Energy storage: A New Paradigm
Power systems around the globe have been designed to operate at a fixed frequency level – 50 or 60 Hertz (Hz) – to ensure grid stability and quality of power supply. Grid frequency is dependent on the balance between power supply and load demand. Integration of large amounts of variable renewable energy increases complexity from a supply perspective and can result in frequency variations that can affect grid supply and impact consumers. Energy storage is a key technology that provides enough flexibility and speed to deal with these variations. Battery energy storage solutions gain market traction do to technology advancement and cost reduction. When coupled with renewable plants, battery energy storage enable the plants to provide more flexibility and therefore become part of the operation and planning processes of grid operators. This paper describes the case of adding a 2 MW battery energy storage (BESS) solution at one of the large wind farms in UK, i.e. Burbo Banks. The 90 MW Burbo Banks wind farm is capable of supplying electricity for up to 80,000 UK homes. With the addition of the BESS, the wind farm boosts its capabilities to participate in the frequency control scheme operated by the National Grid in UK. The paper addresses the business case, design of the solution, including the battery sizing and control system logics, as well as the experience on operating such a hybrid wind and battery plant in one of the most challenging grid environments. Moreover, the integration with the frequency dispatch system of the grid operator is also described, highlighting how the wind farm contributes to keeping frequency stability in the UK grid.