Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/1206576
Shinde: "It's important that the government and Ofgem work together to deliver the Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan which provides a route map for energy storage in the UK" NETWORK / 39 / FEBRUARY 2020 Energy Scenarios predicts the UK will install up to GW of new storage capacity over the next een years, assuming a signi cant move towards more renewable energy. To facilitate this, National Grid will have to achieve its stated ambition of transform- ing the operation of the UK's electricity system by putting in place innovative sys- tems, products and services to ensure that the network is ready to handle zero-carbon energy. The role of storage There are various ways to introduce the ƒ ex- ibility needed to integrate low carbon power sources - interconnectors to neighbouring countries, demand-side response and en- ergy storage systems all play a part. In order to balance the supply and demand of electricity in real time, National Grid has contracts in place with generators and large energy users to provide temporary extra power, or a reduction in demand. These reserve services are needed if a power station fails, for example, or if forecast de- mand di… ers from actual demand, and the requirement for storage. The system frequency of ‡ˆHz changes when there is a mismatch in the energy added to the system by generators and the energy taken o… the system by demand con- sumers. This mismatch acts to either speed up or slow down the frequency of the grid, and frequency response is the balancing service used to counteract this change. It is a signi cant market; in fact, keeping the power system stable makes up a tenth of the total cost of generating electricity. Decarbonisation has produced high levels of renewable generation which has di… erent operating characteristics, plant dy- namics, data quality, ƒ exibility and inertia contribution to the electrical network. This has increased National Grid's reserve and response requirements. Numbers show that renewables supplied more electricity than fossil fuels in the third quarter of ŒˆŽ and this trend is increasing. Furthermore, the requirement for storage grows more quickly at higher levels of wind and solar penetration. It is an exciting shi , but the nature of intermittent renewable generation means that the require- ments are more volatile and less predictable. System inertia will further decrease as we move towards our zero-carbon ambition. Additionally, demand re- duction, particularly at min- imum demand times, when the proportion of renewa- bles and nuclear generation is increasing, means there is little ƒ exibility in output from the market position. In these scenarios National Grid is required to take action to meet its frequency control require- ments, which means it needs increasingly faster-acting frequency response services to support operational needs. Frequency response and reserve are es- sential balancing services which National Grid procures from industry providers to support the secure operation of the national electricity transmission system. Frequency response services ensure that deviations in system frequency are mitigated within seconds, while reserve services provide additional sources of power over longer timescales, in the form of either increased generation or reduced demand. As the drive for decarbonising the power sector continues, the UK could source "ˆ"•ˆ% of its power from wind and solar power by Œˆ‡ˆ, so storage will be critical to balancing the peaks and troughs created by low carbon generation. Looking to the future I've worked in the energy storage market for many years, and I am genuinely excited by the challenges and the opportunities for all stakeholders. There are now various commercialised energy storage technologies, including pumped hydro-storage, ƒ ywheel, com- pressed air and batteries. Part of the excite- ment around storage comes from the rapidly falling costs that many storage technologies are seeing, but it's battery energy storage which continues to be deployed at the fastest rate. Lithium-ion battery packs now cost around •‡% less than they did at the start of the decade. Crucially, they do not require any mechanical movement and allow ex- tremely short control times and start times – in the range of a few tens of milliseconds at full load – which makes them the perfect match for the response and reserve services that I've mentioned. With this in mind, I would suggest that the one thing that would help facilitate the continued rollout of energy storage most is the rapid progression of SNAPS. National Grid's System Needs and Product Strategy (SNAPS) was launched in Œˆ". It provides an overview of system needs over the next ve years and serves as consultation on product strategy in order to simplify and evolve balancing services and the products that we use to address these system needs. To its credit, the consultation achieved its purpose in understanding the views of the balancing services market, but there is still work to be done – in particular, if we are to e… ectively apply the tool of ƒ ex- ibility to meet the challenges of net zero. Things are moving in the right direc- tion as seen by the BEIS consultation on revamping energy storage planning rules – allowing energy storage projects larger than ‡ˆMW to be assessed by the local planning authorities rather than via the national (NSIP) regime which is costly and lengthy. It's important that the government and Ofgem work together to deliver the Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan which provides a route map for energy storage in the UK, and for new ƒ exibility markets to emerge from the distribution networks. With all this happening, as a nation, we should be able to use energy storage to unlock the true potential of renew- able energy o… ering decarbonised, ƒ exible, stable and yet economical, power supply to the end-users. is a signi cant market; in fact, keeping the power system stable makes up a tenth of the total cost of generating electricity. Decarbonisation has produced high levels of renewable generation which has di… erent operating characteristics, plant dy- namics, data quality, ƒ exibility and inertia contribution to the electrical network. This has increased National Grid's reserve and Numbers show that renewables supplied more electricity than fossil fuels in the third and this trend is increasing. Furthermore, the requirement for storage grows more quickly at higher levels of wind and solar penetration. It is an exciting shi , but the nature of intermittent renewable generation means that the require- ments are more volatile and less predictable. System inertia will further decrease as we move Additionally, demand re- duction, particularly at min- imum demand times, when bles and nuclear generation simplify and evolve balancing services and the products that we use to address these system needs. To its credit, the consultation achieved its purpose in understanding the views of the balancing services market, but there is still work to be done – in particular, if we are to e… ectively apply the tool of ƒ ex- ibility to meet the challenges of net zero. Things are moving in the right direc- tion as seen by the BEIS consultation on revamping energy storage planning rules – allowing energy storage projects larger than ‡ˆMW to be assessed by the local planning authorities rather than via the national (NSIP) regime which is costly and lengthy. It's important that the government and Ofgem work together to deliver the Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan which provides a route map for energy storage in the UK, and for new ƒ exibility markets to emerge from the distribution networks. With all this happening, as a nation, we should be able to use energy storage to unlock the true potential of renew- able energy o… ering decarbonised, ƒ exible, stable and yet economical, power supply to the end-users. DECENTRALISATION DECARBONISATION OF TRANSPORT DECARBONISATION OF HEAT