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Projects: Projects for Investigator
Reference Number	ENA_10025660
Title	Fast Flex
Status	Completed
Energy Categories	Other Power and Storage Technologies(Electricity transmission and distribution) 50%; Other Power and Storage Technologies(Energy storage) 50%;
Research Types	Applied Research and Development 100%
Science and Technology Fields	ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Electrical and Electronic Engineering) 100%
UKERC Cross Cutting Characterisation	Not Cross-cutting 100%
Principal Investigator	Project Contact No email address given SPEN - SP Transmission Plc
Award Type	Network Innovation Allowance
Funding Source	Ofgem
Start Date	01 March 2022
End Date	01 May 2022
Duration	2 months
Total Grant Value	£129,908
Industrial Sectors	Power
Region	Scotland
Programme
Investigators	Principal Investigator	Project Contact , SPEN - SP Transmission Plc (100.000%)
	Industrial Collaborator	Project Contact , National Grid plc (0.000%) Project Contact , SP Energy Networks (0.000%)
Web Site	https://smarter.energynetworks.org/projects/ENA_10025660
Objectives
Abstract	The discovery will quantify the value of the control approach vs. the hardware approach for guaranteeing stability in a decarbonised electricity grid:• The control approach uses advanced monitoring and control techniques to access demand flexibility to support the grid, particularly flexible industrial loads and domestic loads such as electric vehicles.• The hardware approach consists of investing in built-for-purpose assets such as grid-scale battery storage and synchronous condensers to provide ancillary services to the grid.The control scheme offers regional sensitivity, particularly important in Scotland due to its low inertia. Customers could benefit from lower cost, and improvements to security and resilience of supply. For the benefits quantification, Imperial Colleges unique Ancillary-services Constrained Energy Scheduling (ACES) model will be used, in which regional ancillary-services dynamics are mapped into economic optimisation, enabling accurate quantification of the need for ancillary services in each region.Investment efficiency is achieved through maximising the potential for existing grid customers and stakeholders to avoid large-scale investment in battery storage and synchronous condensers. Co-ordination of control and services across transmission, distribution, DERs and demand side delivers this benefit with minimal capital investment. Siting the response and controlling it in regional clusters minimises further network constraints that are a risk of the conventional approaches. Resilience is enhanced by the regional approach, providing a self-healing response by automatically rebalancing areas when severe weather events weaken the grid, while conventional approaches would leave large areas vulnerable to blackout if the grid is weakened or split.SP Transmission plays a key role relating the whole system requirements of system operation with the distribution capabilities and the customers providing the flexibility. SP Transmission also has the most advanced transmission real-time monitoring system of the licensees and has established a worldwide reputation as an innovation leader in using this technology. Furthermore, the problem is particularly important in Scotland where the regional effects of inertia reduction are most critical.GE will provide the design for the monitoring and control solution from its GB- based innovation centre for decarbonisation, specialising in fast wide area control as well as advanced transmission and distribution management.Imperial College will provide the modelling and analysis expertise to assess requirements and benefits (technical and economic) for the proposed regional fast balancing service. The team will also specify the target participants for a follow-up demonstration.The ESO, SP Renewables, SPD and SPM will all act as review authorities to verify the discovery outputs.
Publications	(none)
Final Report	(none)
Added to Database	14/10/22