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Many offers from DNOs and TSOs are now subject to significant curtailments, whether these are part of Active Network Management (ANM) schemes or limited capacity whilst reinforcements are undertaken – these can have significant impact and revenue risk to projects. Curtailment studies are carried out to assess the proposed constraints suggested by the DNO / TSO, to check their validity and help understand how to the curtailment can affect the system performance, and potential loss of revenue over the life of the asset.
Where significant curtailments are present on the system, we can help redefine the electrical system topology and behavior to provide warning and alarm signals to change operating mode and reduce power output in a controlled manner before the DNO curtailment begins operation.
Reliability analysis in power systems can be carried out in a number of different ways. At a high level it considers simple circuit outages such as defined in ENA P2/7, which details the required security of supply for a system, and the number of outages a system can tolerate before it is constrained. These studies are often carried out in conjunction with curtailment analysis studies (above).
For more complex sites such as data centers and oil and gas facilities, where an interruption could lead to significant loss of revenue, it is possible to determine more accurate reliability and availability levels (i.e. 99.99%) using standards such as IEEE 493 and IEEE 1363.
Where Grid Forming Inverters are used on a system, they can offer significant benefits to the system; however they are significantly more complex than conventional inverters and need additional analysis and configuration. NESO Grid Code has a series of specific simulation tests and analysis that must be carried out as per section ECP.A.3.9. We can carry out these simulations, or provide assistance to the OEM providing the plant to the project.
HVDC analysis and design is highly complex and usually vendor specific. We can provide support on the selection and review of HVDC systems, guiding on the different topologies and constraints that need to be considered. We can also carry out high level HVDC cable sizing studies to identify the maximum power transfer capability based on the thermal limits and temperature gradient limits across the insulation.
The use of MVDC networks is also developing further and many renewable developers are beginning to look at MVDC integration between solar and storage technologies.
Contact: Steve Sommerville
Phone: 01305 300 210
Aurora Power Consulting are a leading independent power systems consultancy. We provide specialist power systems analysis services using software such as DIgSILENT, ETAP, PSCAD, EMTP-ATP, CDEGS and XGSLab.
