Scope
INCENTIVE will:
- address the current and future needs for energy provision - Non-synchronous generation is already causing stability issues, and these issues will become more acute in the future. This project will alleviate these issues. INCENTIVE is particularly relevant for power provision but, as heat and transport come to rely more heavily on power, it will also have relevance to those sectors.
- address future policy, regulatory conditions and market designs - As identified in the BAT-STAT project, these are key barriers for commercial deployment of the innovative technology and novel approaches will be identified, agreed and tested in the project.
- provide a novel approach to infrastructure investment - INCENTIVE will help to maximise the efficiency in large-scale network upgrades by providing a new alternative to business as usual investments. This will be achieved by creating a commercial framework such that private investors are able to invest in the INCENTIVE solutions, and hence improve network resilience and reliability. Further, with its wide range of partners, the project will be able to inform strategic plans for coordinating the location of assets to deliver the most efficient capital investment.
Partners
The BAT-STAT project identified that in order to make the proposed innovative technology a reality, technical, regulatory, commercial and market innovation is required to happen simultaneously. INCENTIVE therefore necessarily entails cooperation between network companies, generators and technical experts. The partnership brings together leading organisations SSEN-T, National Grid ESO, Strathclyde University, and Carbon Trust (representing the nine OWA developers), supported by Fraser-Nash Consultancy, to deliver this coordinated innovation. Through collaboration, the project aims to coordinate the introduction of a novel disruptive technology and to create simple regulatory, commercial and market frameworks for offshore wind to provide stability services, to the benefit of the whole system and all stakeholders in the energy system. They key outputs of the Discovery phase will be business case justifications, regulatory models and commercial models for INCENTIVE solutions, and a technical scope of work for the Alpha and Beta phases. For partner and sub-contractor details see Appendix Q3-2.
Users
The INCENTIVE solutions will apply to: network owners will use the solutions to facilitate stable connection of offshore wind farms to their networks; System Operators will use the solutions to provide stability services to the onshore grid; and generators (offshore wind farms) will use the assets to reduce curtailment and increase renewable power export to the grid.
Problem Bring Solved
NCENTIVE sits within the Whole System SIF Challenge Area. The problem is how to integrate increasing offshore wind capacity onto the GB network, while maintaining system stability and providing value for consumers. The GB electrical system is undergoing a radical change away from synchronous fossil fuel generation towards non-synchronous renewable generation driven by rapid cost reductions of renewables and climate policy targets (UK government target of 40GW of offshore wind by 2030, and only net-zero electrical generation by 2035). Therefore, offshore wind is now attractive economically and environmentally.
Introducing the ever-increasing capacity of offshore wind does not come without problems as exemplified by the GB power blackout in August 2019 that affected 900,000 people, with the lack of system support/inertia from renewables to stabilise the system a feature of the event. Introducing measures that can be readily incorporated into an offshore wind energy project's grid connection that can enhance system stability would be highly beneficial. Without innovation, the rapid roll-out of non-synchronous generation will lead to grid balancing and grid stability challenges at the onshore connection points and in the onshore networks beyond. Without new solutions, the GB grid will become weaker in the coming years, ultimately leading to issues in system operation. These issues will include: increasing the likelihood of severe instability events; increasing the need for imported electricity; and maintaining reliance on synchronous fossil fuel generators on stand-by (which is already proving costly for the System Operator). All of these negative effects will lead to price increases for GB energy consumers and will slow down the energy transition, with adverse impact to the environment.
The opportunity - Through preliminary work ("BAT-STAT" project) conducted within the Offshore Wind Accelerator developer-led R&D programme, an opportunity has been identified to enable offshore wind farms to play a role in stabilising the GB network through the use of innovative technologies that provide voltage, current and frequency control services to the grid. For GB network companies and generators to take this opportunity, simultaneous technical, regulatory, commercial and market innovation will be required. To realise these innovations, collaboration across a wide range of stakeholders is necessary.
INCENTIVE aims to seize this opportunity by studying and demonstrating how these innovative technologies can allow offshore wind farms to provide stability services to the grid. The ultimate aim is to maintain the fast-paced roll-out of offshore wind in GB whilst reducing end consumer cost.
Impacts and benefits
Discovery Phase conducted CBA which demonstrated that there is a positive case for each INCENTIVE technology from the perspective of the GB consumer. A summary of the results for four possible INCENTIVE technologies is set out below.
[BESS – Battery energy storage system
MMC – modular multi-level converter
HVDC – high voltage direct current
CCGT – combined cycle gas turbine]
The Discovery application highlighted that there are limited stability markets in which offshore wind can participate due to the uncertainty in the technologies required. The application stated that BAT-STAT already found that for two of the chosen technologies, there was a positive CBA. The work completed in Discovery Phase has corroborated this by conducting a CBA that shows the case for integrating INCENTIVE solutions into the network based on benefits to the consumer.
This shows a strong case for continuing to investigate how to commercialise INCENTIVE technologies in Alpha phase.
The Discovery Phase CBA work has found areas where the CBA should be refined in Alpha. Discovery found
· There is limited cost data available, which gives the CBA a degree of uncertainty. In Alpha, more comprehensive cost information (e.g. sourced from technology suppliers) will enable a more accurate CBA to reflect the most up-to-date conditions for INCENTIVE technologies.
· The CBA is impacted by sensitivities. In Alpha, more sensitivity analysis will also be performed to assess which parameters have the greatest uncertainty to the business case of INCENTIVE solutions.
· Market arrangements are likely to change in the future. In Alpha, improved predictions of future market arrangements, and benefits accrued, will be assessed.
· Whilst positive for the consumer, the CBA may differ from user-to-user. In Alpha, different perspectives will be taken in the CBA, for instance to ensure there is positive CBA not just for the consumer, but also for the asset owner or transmission owner, to ensure there is a comprehensive case for commercialisation.
· The CBA depends on specific technology capability to deliver services. For example, some INCENTIVE technologies can provide services outside of stability, which can benefit their overall CBA. More investigation is required in Alpha.
· There may be other non-carbon environmental impacts (positive and negative) of INCENTIVE technologies, which need to be considered.
