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NETWORK / 31 / NOVEMBER 2019 and bring down the cost of Black Start services. National Grid ESO is working in partnership with SP Energy Networks and energy consul - tancy TNEI on the project. Essentially, the project will dra• in far more generation sources than has hitherto been the case, explains Chandler. "The fact that we're looking at smaller generators of between 10-15MW as opposed to 500MW large power stations, means we're going to need a lot more of them. If we don't have enough of them it's going to delay the whole restoration process." The project features a num - ber of workstreams covering the following areas: project direction; power engineering and trials; organisational, sys - tems and telecommunications procurement and compliance; knowledge and dissemination. Chandler adds:"The first 18 months is the development phase where we have been doing a lot of our optioneering. We've been working with our partner SP Energy Networks to create 10 case studies. These case studies are options of how we can utilise distributed energy resources to do Black Start. As we go through the development phase of this project we'll do further detailed optioneering work on those case studies. "When we get to the second half of the project that's the demonstration phase where we'll use these case studies and hone them down to a smaller subset. Ultimately, we'll get to a point where we will do live trials on two or three of these." Chandler wants to complete live trials in 2021, and expects to have a number of options that can be adopted soon a•er this. "I'm hoping that it turns out that way because the electric - ity system is changing so fast. We're thinking that rather than doing a big bang suite of trials at the end of the project it would be more sensible to build up in stages. I hope to start an initial series of trials in the summer of 2020. We want to see if our approach is the right one, and if not then see what needs to change and then test it. A big bang approach is too risky." The project was established in January 2019 and runs until April 2022. Chandler is confident that things are progressing well, saying: "There's a whole lot of learning to be gained from whatever we come up with. Part of our remit is to engage with all the other stakeholders, certainly DNOs and other DER stakehold - ers as well. Whatever solution w e come up with has to be able to be translated across the whole of Great Britain. "When we prove the two or three case studies at the end, they'll have to be representative of other potential DNO options elsewhere." The blackout risk Whilst there has never been a complete blackout in Great Britain, Chandler says the ESO can't afford to be complacent. "We're an island and we didn't necessarily have interconnectors in the past going back to when the grid system was built in the 1960s. Our security standards to plan, build and operate the network are quite stringent, a lot more stringent than say some of the European member states. It has meant that we haven't had any national blackout incidents. "However, we can't be com - placent. What would happen if we had a blackout? There What Black Start looks like today What the future DER Restoration could look like Energise Energise Energise Energise Energise Energise 30-50MW demand load blocks Power station Transmission circuits Transmission circuits Power station Distribution circuits TO Control Black Start providers Neighbouring DSO Control TO Control DSO Control ESO National Control ESO National Control DNO Control Distribution circuits What Black Start looks like today What the future DER Restoration could look like Energise Energise Energise Energise Energise Energise 30-50MW demand load blocks Power station Transmission circuits Transmission circuits Power station Distribution circuits TO Control Black Start providers Neighbouring DSO Control TO Control DSO Control ESO National Control ESO National Control DNO Control Distribution circuits are a lot of interdependencies that would play out. No power across the whole of Great Britain would impact on our ability to travel, communicate, heat our homes, buy essentials, respond to emergencies. It would be catastrophic. "A national blackout event would touch the day-to-day lives of everybody in this country. It's so important to have an insur - ance policy. National Grid ESO is well prepared and has Black Start recovery plans in place already but landscapes are changing and these plans need to reflect that." But if, as suggested above, fully re-powering the electric - ity system a•er a Black Start would take up to week, could these timings be improved when achieving Black Start from DER? "Potentially yes," answers Chandler. "This would be a national expectation for restora - tion. Each region within Britain is different. Due to the physics of the electricity system, the south east is one of the last regions to be restored under the current Black Start strategy. Our project could improve that at a regional level."