Renewable energy sources have played a role in restarting Great Britain’s electricity system after a successful world-first trial.
A live trial in Galloway, south-west Scotland saw a hydro generator connected to the distribution network self-start, energise the local transmission and distribution network, and power up wind turbines on two wind farms within an isolated test network.
There has never been a need to restart GB’s electricity system from scratch and the prospect remains improbable.
However, the success of the trial could create a blueprint for incorporating distributed energy resources (DER) using numerous green energy sources, to fire up Britain’s electricity system in the highly unlikely event of a shutdown of the electricity network.
Traditionally, large power stations are used to energise the higher voltage transmission network in the unlikely event of a partial or total shutdown of the electricity system, followed by a “top-down” restoration of demand at lower voltages.
The three-year Ofgem-funded Distributed ReStart project is instead trialling a “bottom-up” approach by using DERs, such as solar, wind or hydro, to restart the electricity system.
Its aim is to show how this process would restore demand to localised areas of electricity network and establish distribution restoration zones (DRZs).
The trial was a collaborative effort with coordination required between the National Grid ESO and SP Energy Networks control rooms, as well as the coordination of multiple operational resources and people in preparation for and during the live testing.
The result was establishing a stable “power island” incorporating the hydro generator as the ‘anchor’, used to initially self-start and energise the local electricity network, and then power up several turbines at Glenchamber and North Rhins wind farms.
These tests proved the viability of connecting multiple DERs to a “weak” islanded section of the electricity network, and now has the potential to be rolled out across Britain to establish working DRZs and to restore local demand in the event of a partial or total shut down of the electricity system.