Three green inertia services, which mimic the effect of a power station but without using fossil fuels, will go live by summer in the UK, along with new technology that measures the amount of inertia on the network.
They are part of a £336m (€408m) National Grid ESO investment programme to measure and generate green inertia, which is needed to maintain frequency on Britain’s electricity system, keeping it stable.
Previously inertia has been provided by coal or gas power plants but the ESO is now procuring inertia from carbon free sources, which is not only significantly cheaper for consumers, but allows for greener system operation and more renewable energy to run, National Grid ESO said.
It is also using technology to map and monitor the amount inertia on the system more accurately, which means the ESO can run a higher penetration of renewable generation, rather than bringing on coal or gas plant when inertia levels are estimated to be low.
The £7.5m pioneering ‘sonar’ tool, the world’s first ultracapacitor, has been deployed in Teesside and will enter operational service this summer.
Built by Reactive Technologies, but owned by the ESO, the tool will directly measure inertia by sending pulses of power through the grid, in a similar manner to sonar technology, accurately mapping any deviations in levels of inertia and frequency
The ESO has also invested nearly £1m in an inertia measuring and forecasting tool developed by GE Digital, which is in the process of being deployed across the whole of the grid for the first time.
The software will provide a real-time measure of inertia across all regions of the country and will improve the ESO’s ability to manage system stability across the entire network as more renewable energy sources connect to the grid.
National Grid ESO head of networks Julian Leslie said: “We operate the fastest decarbonising electricity network in the world and these new trail-blazing green turbines and measuring tools are vital for zero carbon grid operation by in 2025.
“Building a green system with enough inertia is an engineering challenge for system operators worldwide and we’re the first to be solving it.
“Plus, we’ve solved it in a way that means it’s significantly cheaper for consumers than before we made the investment, with all the benefits of zero carbon.”