New study reveals small-scale renewable energy sources could cause power failures

Date:
March 2, 2022
Source:
University of Nottingham
Summary:
Renewable energy that feeds into the main power grid could
destabilize the system and potentially cause power failures
according to a new study.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Renewable energy that feeds into the main power grid could destabilise
the system and potentially cause power failures according to a new study.


========================================================================== Mathematicians from the University of Nottingham used data from smart
meters to track how grid composition changes over time and found
resilience varies over the course of a day and that a high uptake of
solar panels can leave the grid more susceptible to failure. Their
findings have been published today in Science Advances.

Domestic renewable energy generation is growing rapidly with just over
one million small-scale solar Photo-Voltaic(PV) systems in the UK. These
small- scale, renewable generators are low- output and intermittent and
often distributed across and embedded within power grids in large numbers.

Household generation forms a key component of the integration of
renewables and includes the 'feed in tariff' which pays the producer
for supplying their stored power back upstream to the grid. This
supply of power is unpredictable with generators coming on and off-line intermittently and households adopting the role of consumers or producers asdaily and seasonal usage, and meteorological conditions vary. These fluctuations can put the grid at risk of system failures.

Oliver Smith, researcher at the University of Nottingham led the study, he explains: "The increasing proliferation of small, intermittent renewable
power sources is causing a rapid change in the structure and composition
of the power grid. Indeed, the grid's effective structure can change over
the course of a day as consumers and small-scale generators come on-
and off-line. Using data from smart meters in UK households we tracked
how grid composition varies over time. We then used a dynamical model
to assess how these changes impact the resilience of power grids to catastrophic failures. We found that resilience varies over the course
of a day and that a high uptake of solar panels can leave the grid more susceptible to failure." The first part of the research investigated the theory around changing the proportion and size of generators by modelling
a system using many small-scale generators and in all cases it showed that
the grid should be more robust than if using one power source. However,
when the real-world smart meter data was incorporated the researchers
found that the reality for a network with many small-scale generators
operating at different times means the grid doesn't reach optimum levels
for this resilience to be achieved leaving it susceptible to failures.

The researchers found that renewable energy stored in household batteries
is used only to minimise household power costs and does little to minimise
the risk of network failure.

They recommend that the supply of power from these batteries should be scheduled to also optimise for power grid resilience.

Oliver continues: "The main problem is the amount of fluctuation there
is in small-scale renewable energy supply. A cost-effective way to
overcome this would be to intelligently schedule the release of stored
PV energy from household batteries at specified times. This would
provide much greater control and reduce the risk of system failures." ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Nottingham. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Oliver Smith, Oliver Cattell, Etienne Farcot, Reuben D. O'Dea,
Keith I.

Hopcraft. The effect of renewable energy incorporation on power
grid stability and resilience. Science Advances, 2022; 8 (9) DOI:
10.1126/ sciadv.abj6734 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220302150147.htm

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