Project Summary
Project
The project is to develop the technical design and commercial modelling for large scale energy storage and high efficiency gas use via a Carnot Gas Plant ("CGP"), this will be integrated into a heat network to provide cross vector flexibility. This will meet the aims of Innovation Challenge 4 by integrating heat networks for wider energy network management.
Aims
The aim is to increase the energy efficiency and decarbonise flexible export via a novel CGP coupled with a heat network. Flexibility provided by multiple modes of operation and improved efficiency helps reduce costs of connecting and operating decarbonised heat.
Innovation
The innovation is a CGP which can provide flexibility services to the gas and electricity networks through several modes of operation which can be optimised based on market conditions.
The CGP can either:
*Convert electricity into stored heat and cryogenic air
*Discharge stored heat in a heat network
*Efficiently use gas to heat the stored air and Gas can be used to boost the electrical output with heat recovery via a heat network
The use of Gas Turbines for flexible power production and heat recovery is established, but a significant proportion of the gas input is used to drive the compressor. The CGP has a significantly increased efficiency as a result of removing the compressor load from the point of generation.
Users
User benefits:
*Gas peaking owner operators -- The innovation provides equivalent flexibility function as existing gas turbine peaking plant, but at reduced gas consumption volumes.
*Heat network owner operators / consumers -- The innovation reduces the cost associated with providing decarbonised heat to consumers.
*DNO/ESO -- The innovation provides for various needs such as inertia provision which is not provided by flexible assets (e.g. batteries), balancing services such as frequency response and also black start capability.
Partners
SGN are the lead partner, bringing expertise in gas and hydrogen as well as numerous sites in urban areas.
Vital Energi are the heat network provider. They are UK market leader in district heating schemes with 83,000 homes connected.
Imperial College London will be the academic partner, having developed an integrated whole energy systems (IWES) model.
University of Birmingham (UoB) will be an academic partner specialising in phase change material.
Glasgow City Council and West Dunbartonshire Council will be Local Government partners.
Innovation Justification
Problem
As we progress to net zero there is an established requirement for:
- Heat networks with flexibility
- Import/Export flexibility within the electrical network e.g. batteries
- Gas fired peaking plants with low operating hours for periods of extended low renewable generation.
- Demand side only flexibility as hours of excess generation increases
The above activities are important individually however if they are considered in isolation this will lead to:
- Increased CO2 production from flexibility
- Increase in the amount of transmission and distribution infrastructure of power and gas
- Increased timescales in connecting all flexible assets including heat networks
- Single function assets which may cease operating if market factors negatively impact their business case
The innovation provides the requirements described efficiently from a single thus overcoming the problems.
Innovation
The project is innovative because there is no technology providing the same breadth of functionality commercially available. The interface between the various components must be designed to ensure the Carnot battery and wider system operates efficiently and can provide the full functionality as described above.
Knowledge Gap
The project partners have experience in key areas of cryogenic air storage, heat storage and heat engines but are yet to design the relative capacities of the heating and storage equipment and the associated interfaces. The expertise of the partners in overcoming similar design requirements on other energy projects make them well placed to achieve success.
We also need to model how the operational regime changes with the amount of renewables on the grid and the need for flexibility changes. We will use Plexos simulation software to run a variety of scenarios to optimize the specification.
Counterfactual
The proposed counterfactual is:
A low carbon, low temperature hot water network with separately located gas peaking plants
Economic Benefits
- System can draw in electricity flexibly targeting low-cost periods
- Increased flexibility reduces operating costs of the local heat network and wider energy network
- Provides more heat from same energy source therefore reduces investment required in generation, transmission, and distribution reinforcement
- Reduces need for carbon negative technology
Sustainability Benefits
- Reduces CO2 production from flexibility
- Allows for increased penetration of renewables by improving flexibility and efficiency
Price Control
SIF funding is the only option within price control. It wouldn't attract any other type of funding as it is research led and is risky as it requires new models and control systems to be developed and proven.
Project Benefits
Our project will deliver the following benefits against this counterfactual:
Financial - future reductions in the cost of operating the network
The key metric will be the volumes (MWh) of hydrogen and electricity required to provide the flexibility and the consumers heating. We will review the profile of these against the counterfactual and using Imperial's model, look at the local and national infrastructure and investment requirements to meet these demands. These savings would be achieved gradually during the transition to Net Zero.
Financial - cost savings per annum on energy bills for consumers
*We will make an estimate of how the savings on network reinforcement would translate into reduction in standing and variable charges on all gas consumer bills across various scenarios for deployment of the project.
*We will calculate the MWh of heating produced by hydrogen and electricity and will show how the heat network consumer costs will vary over several scenarios during the transition to hydrogen.
*We will demonstrate how access to flexible markets will further reduce the bills of those connected to the heat network.
Environmental - carbon reduction -- direct CO2 savings per annum against a business-as-usual counterfactual
The CO2 emissions applicable to our project will be zero from 2035. In 2017 the average household generated 2,745 kg of CO2 emissions from heating. We will identify several comparisons in the CO2 savings at various points between now and 2050 against the calculated gas and power mix.
We will compare the CO2 emissions in kg/MWh export compared to a standard peaking plant.
