PORTUGAL: Flexibility Hub, provision of active and reactive power and dynamic grid models to the system using DSO grid connected resources

09.09.2019

Partners
Inesctec, EDP Distribuiçăo, NEW ENERGY WORLD, EDP Renováveis

Technical aspects
• Location: North Portugal
• Grid: ~50 km HV grid; 20 MW substation HV/MV (demonstration)
• Grid connection points: ~8000 fed by the HV grid
• Installed capacity: ~90 MW installed RES in the HV grid
• Share of RES in consumption: >100% could feed the demonstration
• Grid in scope of demo: HV distribution grid
• Grid connection points in scope of demo: 1 distribution HV/MV substations; 1 TSO/DSO interfaces with 40 transformers
• Available flexibilities in the demo: in HV distribution grid: ~46 MW
• Active power ~46MW wind power
• Reactive power between -50 Mvar and +50 Mvar

Innovative aspects of the demonstration
• Local market for reactive power provision from the DSO grid in a close to real-time intraday market to provide reactive power to the TSO
• Redesign of the replacement reserve market as a close to real-time intraday market with a traffic light qualification system to validate the activation of bids involving resources from the DSO grid
• Equivalent Dynamic Model of the DSO grid for analysis of voltage and frequency disturbance

Main challenges
Share of RES is expected to increase. The redispatch potential in the transmission grid will reach its limits with the closure of conventional thermal plants and incremental distributed generation, so
new methods are needed to provide system services. These will increase the need to use distributed resources to provide both active and reactive power management and require the design of new flexible mechanisms. In turn close TSO-DSO coordination will be required so these services can be provided
without causing additional problems for the distribution grids. In addition, the traditionally passive nature of the distribution grid is evolving and grids are becoming much more dynamic and complex, therefore require proper modelling should be considered by the TSO in both voltage and frequency disturbance analyses.