Network

NETWORK / 37 / DECEMBER 2016/JANUARY 2017 run. ABB is also taking on some risk through signing a fixed price contract for a turnkey solution, leaving it vulnerable to cost overruns. Transmission and Distribution Interface (TDI) 2.0 £8m – no conditions Other funding – £1.5m National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) Project overview This project will demonstrate how services traditionally offered by transmission- connected generation to the system operator (SO), such as voltage stability and thermal capacity, can be provided by distribution-connected energy resources. The distribution company would effectively act as 'gatekeeper' by providing some of these services to the SO. It will also examine how these new services would interact with the existing commercial arrangements, and investigate the technical feasibility of the proposed approach as well as introduce market-based mechanisms for co-ordinated network management. Ofgem's assesment Ofgem said this is a timely topic about greater co-ordination between the transmission and distribution systems; trialling a model for the DNO transition to DSO. NGET estimated that the project would accommodate the connection of about 3.7GW of new distributed energy resources in the project area by 2050, while saving about £29 million in spending compared with network reinforcement. The project will deliver good value for money when considered against the current alternatives of facilitating further DG connection in the south east. NGET and DNO project partner UKPN would together provide £1.5 million of funds, exceeding the 10% compulsory contribution from the licensees by £600,000. The project would adopt a fully-competitive procurement processes to appoint providers for specific roles in project delivery. The project will generate diverse and significant new knowledge, particularly around the interaction between the SO and DNO in offering the services being trialled by the project. Four innovative concepts will be explored in the project: l    the technical feasibility of using dynamic response from DERs for resolving complex transmission constraints; l    the introduction of DERs to the reactive power market; l  the DNO providing an additional route to market for DERs, enabling DERs to provide services to both the distribution and transmission networks; and l  introducing market-based mechanisms for co-ordinated network management. Ofgem recognised that the NIC is the only opportunity open to network operators to explore cross-organisational collaboration for uncertain long-term customer benefits. OpenLV £4.9m – depending on a revised approach to community engagement Submitted by Western Power Distribution (WPD) Project overview This project would create a sožware platform that enables enhanced real-time assessment and visibility of low-voltage network capacity. This improved visibility would allow the DNOs to more actively manage this level of the network, which is necessary as more generation and demand is connected locally. Such an approach would ensure the available capacity is used more effectively, minimising the costs of reinforcement. One outcome will be to enable other parties (eg. large users such as councils, housing associations, universities) to investigate ways to make better use of the network. Ofgem's assesment While the project has the potential to deliver real benefits and knowledge about substation control, the key benefit will be an assessment of the appetite for communities and third parties to interact with the network in new ways. The expert panel was concerned about the likely level of that appetite, but WPD has made a commitment to fund the development of one sožware application through its corporate social responsibility budget should no third party came forward during the trial. WPD's initial assessment indicated sizeable market potential. The funding is subject to WPD developing a revised approach to community engagement earlier in the project because this will be critical to the project's overall success. WPD has projected that the project could offer £595 million of savings to customers and release 5.8GW of capacity by 2050 if it were rolled out across the GB Network. This is considered value for money, although there were initial concerns about the relatively high costs being charged by main project partner EA Technology given that it could be the long term beneficiary of the developed platform. EA Technology is set to contribute 8% of the total project costs through in-kind contributions and has reduced its costs. PowerFuL-CB £4.6m – dependent on safety case development Other funding – £1.5m UK Power Networks (UKPN) Project overview This project would further develop, and test, two new types of circuit breaker to ease fault-level constraints on the network and therefore make more capacity available. One of these circuit breakers, developed by ABB, would be designed to operate at substations, while the other, from Applied Materials (AMAT), would be located at the point of DG customer connection. Both would be smaller and cheaper than traditional circuit breakers; they would release additional fault level headroom to enable more DG connections and district heating in a densely populated urban area. Ofgem's assesment UKPN estimates that 462MW of capacity would be released by 2050 through the use of the circuit breakers, facilitating the connection of DG which would help enable the rollout of low-carbon heating and electricity generation. The solutions could potentially be rolled out to about 20% of primary distribution substations, which are expected to become constrained because of fault-level violations by 2020. The project provides excellent value for money, with just three ABB units or one AMAT unit required to be deployed to recoup the customer investment in each method. Although other novel fault current limiters have been investigated, the industry is yet to see the emergence of a technology that can be installed within small urban substations. UKPN predicts that the AMAT circuit breaker could be installed by other licensees before the end of RIIO-ED1, with the ABB circuit breaker ready for deployment during RIIO-ED2. However, the full potential of the project will only be realised once it is possible to deploy the new breakers without conventional breakers as a back-up. The breakers are likely to be run in series with larger conventional equipment as a safety measure, limiting the number of locations at which it can be installed. The funding therefore depends on a safety case covering the development of the circuit breakers until they can be rolled out without being installed alongside existing technology.

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