Smart, Flexible Controls
FlexNet's planned research in system operation has proven well-aligned with projected investment as outlined in recent ENSG and ETI reports. Much of the scheduled work in this programme so far has been building a modelling and analysis base for testing the ideas of increased boundary transfer limits and of corrective post-fault control. Reduced GB-like models have been completed and models to represent the reaction of distributed generation (DG) to system-wide events such as frequency disturbances built. Work on assessing system frequency response in systems with little conventional thermal generation is now underway. Wide-Area Measurement Systems (WAMS) were seen a key aspect of secondary infrastructure and one where there was little practical experience in the UK. Three universities have installed Synchronized Measurement Technology to start gathering angle-disturbance data both as a technology demonstrator and as a source of verification data for control studies. Active management of protection systems, the key to fault management in complex networks, has made good progress and is now in testing. New control of re-closing circuit breakers has moved to testing algorithms against recorded network data in a real-time simulator.
A further objective was to explore frequency regulation by dynamic demand response and non-synchronous (wind turbine) generators. Control algorithms and models are now under development. An approximate generation system was developed to estimate the value of these alternative frequency regulation options in terms of the reduced system operation cost and lower carbon emissions.
For the network evolution beyond 2020, the understanding of how the option value of certain technologies is assessed and the planning of strategic network investment are key topics currently being pursued. The understanding and mitigation of risk in corrective control and in the use of DG for system-level support are also part of our current work-programme.
The transition towards active distribution networks has now started. This work has progressed to formulating the distribution planning problem as a stochastic maths programme taking into account the key uncertainties with demand (including the uncertain trajectory of the uptake and impact of demand response) and distribution connected generation (where investment decisions are made by independent market participants with high levels of uncertainty over technology, size and location for the distribution network operator). Work is also underway on control room interfaces for active networks. Work on an active power distribution network and data acquisition simulator/emulator has started (which links to the AuRA-NMS strategic partnership) and is to be followed by control room decision support research.
Work-stream Leader
Professor Goran Strbac
Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering
Imperial College London
South Kensington Campus
London, SW7 2BT, UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 7594 6169
Email: g.strbac@imperial.ac.uk