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THE FUTURE 36 Solving the EV charging jigsaw Patrick Erwin, policy and markets director at Northern Powergrid, on preparing the energy system for an increase in EVs. NETWORK / 5 / SEPTEMBER 2019 L E A D E R C O M M E N T YOUR NET W ORK Give the people what they want Let us know what projects, technologies and topics you want us to cover. Have your say Express your opinions and respond to content by blogging or writing for the magazine. A social Network Follow us on Twitter: @Network_mag Email the editor: alecpeachey@fav-house.com C OMING SO ON ∙ Health & safety ∙ Energy materials ∙ Black Start from DER Alec Peachey alecpeachey@fav-house.com THE BLACKOUT EFFECT A lot has been said and written about last month's blackout which le 1.1 million customers without power. An interim report from National Grid Electricity System Operator (NGESO) says that a lightning strike and the sudden loss of two large electricity generators was to blame. Since the incident there's been a lot of nger pointing with several industry experts giving their view. Indeed, you can read the views of representatives from the Energy Systems Catapult, Moixa and Kaluza from page 8. There's also a summary of the key ndings from the interim report. I always think it's best to base opinion on facts rather than speculation when incidents such as this occur, and it is worth bearing in mind that at the time of going to press we're still awaiting the ESO's full report. That being said, the power outages at Hornsea and Little Barford, followed by the subsequent loss of 500MW of embedded generation and then two more outages at Little Barford do raise some concerns.. According to the report, the total generation lost from these two connected generators was 1,378MW. This unexpected loss of generation meant that the frequency fell very quickly and went outside the normal range of 50.5Hz - 49.5Hz. I think it's worth recapping on how the grid is managed when frequency dips below regulated levels and what happened in this instance. The rst stage of 'Low Frequency Demand Disconnection' (LFDD) worked. LFDD is an automatic defence mechanism installed on the distribution networks and designed to save the system from a complete collapse. The system has operated in this way for decades – well before privatisation in 1990. According to Phil Lawton (page 9), former future system operation manager at National Grid, the way in which it is operated could change in the future. He said: "While the scheme prevented the incident from escalating, it is a blunt instrument tripping 132/33kV transformers. If we move to providing much higher levels of frequency response on the demand side, the chance of the LFDD scheme operating will reduce greatly and it may be considered more t for purpose. On the other hand, if we continue to tailor the level of frequency response to the largest loss, we should consider applying LFDD further down the system to better manage its impact." In the face of a very unusual event, the networks and their protection systems did seem to work broadly as intended, but as with all these types of events lessons can and will be learnt. Action will be required, but with Ofgem and the Energy Emergencies Executive Committee both breathing down National Grid's neck, it will undoubtedly come. other hand, if we continue to tailor the level of frequency response to the largest loss, we should consider applying LFDD further down the system In the face of a very unusual event, the networks and their protection systems did seem to work broadly as intended, but as with all these types of events lessons can and will be learnt. Action will be required, but with Ofgem and the Energy Emergencies Executive Committee both breathing down National Grid's neck, it will undoubtedly come.