Extending the assets of virtual power plants, expanding renewables penetration
The global energy landscape is changing quickly. Sprawling, centralised power plants are being replaced by smaller, decentralised distributed energy resources (DER), and these are often renewable energy sources (RES). Virtual power plants (VPPs) have emerged on the scene to pool mid-scale DERs (2 Megawatt minimum) such as solar, wind and biomass. The VPPs actively forecast, dispatch and trade the power and flexibility of the aggregated DER assets, playing an important role in stabilising power grid voltage in the face of intermittent RES from solar and wind sources. As RES penetration increases, so does the need to stabilise the frequency as well as the voltage. The EU-funded EdgeFLEX project has made this possible. Its platform offers fast and dynamic service-to-grid operations and simultaneously enables VPPs to support local energy communities, bundling and selling power generated by households and small businesses.
5G- and edge-enabled DER management
Monitoring, control and management of large-scale DERs is becoming an obstacle to greater RES penetration. 5G mobile communications networks and IoT facilitate increased autonomy and use of the edges of the grid and communications network to solve issues locally rather than centrally. “EdgeFLEX has created a pioneering 5G application programming interface (API) that will make it easier for power providers to connect and manage devices in the field, leveraging their flexibility. Its development contributed to the adoption of three global mobile systems standards by 3GPP during the project’s lifetime,” notes project coordinator Fiona Williams of Ericsson. The successful standardisation of the open 5G API will give organisations free choice of network provider and the security of knowing the products and services will be supported for years to come. The project has also supported edge-enabled DER management with its unique high-speed phasor measurement unit (PMU). PMUs measure both the amplitude and phase angle of current and voltage at selected points of the power system, supporting optimised grid operations and stability. The edgePMU is unique in its separation of sensors and analysis software. The software, located at the grid’s edge, can be upgraded remotely. The sensor data can be interpreted by any newer software, ensuring sustainability and minimising maintenance and operating costs.
‘Complex frequency’ simplifies VPP modelling and control
Underlying the services to stabilise grid frequency, the development of a new theoretical concept called ‘complex frequency’ led to an extraordinary 39 scientific publications during the project’s lifetime. “The complex frequency concept extends instantaneous frequency to the complex domain, enabling straightforward derivation of power system devices’ models and controllers. This is particularly useful for power electronic converters – the building block of VPPs,” explains Williams.
Expansion of VPPs to local energy communities, large-scale RES adoption
The 5G- and edge-ready EdgeFLEX platform comprises modular, scalable components backed by an open-source architecture. It enables incremental and cost-effective deployment and scaling of new power grid systems and services. Field trials showed its ease of use and fast dynamic responses encouraged consumers and local businesses to join local energy communities, contributing flexibility to their local power grid. “EdgeFLEX has demonstrated that digitalisation of the grid and edge-based maintenance of grid stability go hand in hand with increased RES use, optimised energy trading and management from local to regional levels, and CO2 emissions reductions,” Williams concludes. Get ready for upscaled VPP and RES deployment backed by frequency stabilisation and 5G.
Keywords
EdgeFLEX, DER, energy, RES, 5G, VPPs, PMU, virtual power plants, distributed energy resources, renewable energy sources
