The increasing share of wind and PV installations in the Polish power system will require transmission and distribution system operations to fundamentally change the use of grid support services provided by producers to manage grid frequency, voltage and restore system capacity. Today such services are provided by centrally dispatched generating units, managed by the Transmission System Operator.
The Institute’s of Power Engineering (IPE) “The possibility to provide and the NPS demand for ancillary services provided by wind generation in Poland” report developed in cooperation with PWEA is the first such project to analyse ancillary services using wind turbines in Poland. It provides technical and economic guidelines concerning the design of market schemes to enable the Polish power system a safe, reliable and economic operation with increased share of variable renewable energy sources, primarily wind.
The project focuses on wind turbines, constituting the majority of RES to be built by 2020.
The IPE report confirmed that variable RES comply with the majority of requirements for the provision of ancillary services for the Polish power system. Where such requirements are not complied with, appropriate technical solutions exist. However, currently they are not in use due to the lack of economic incentives. Therefore, for RES installations to provide ancillary services at a price competitive with other sources we need new operating conditions and economic environment – the ancillary services market.
Frequency and voltage control using wind and PV is not a new idea. Grid codes all over Europe specify technical requirements for a number of ancillary services. RES installations in Poland already must comply with the requirements, but cannot charge remuneration for the provision of such services. However, certain European countries and the USA established ancillary services markets, offering financial incentives to create such systems. Alas, in Poland this is not the case yet.
During the 6th Wind Energy Workshops we would like to examine the idea of commercial provision of certain ancillary services by wind energy producers as a price-competitive alternative to the provision of such services by other producers. Revenues from such services decrease RES support costs and increase the investors’ interest in the provision of such services – to the benefit of the National Power System stability, safety and operating costs.
Together with the increasing share of RES installations in the Polish power system the mandatory requirements for free of charge ancillary services shall be deleted or substituted with remuneration schemes, for in most cases the requirement to provide services by all connected generating units is neither profitable nor necessary. Market-based remuneration constitutes an incentive to decrease costs both in RES installations and conventional power plants.
The speakers include representatives of PSE, foreign transmission grid operators, Institute of Power Engineering and Lublin University of Technology.
The event is dedicated to transmission grid and wind farm operators, component manufacturers, wind turbine manufacturers as well as State administration and the science sector.
Take part in the 6th Wind Energy Workshops and commence a dialogue with grid operators, the Energy Regulatory Office and public administration with us to introduce legal regulations enabling the provision of control services by wind farms similarly to baseload energy producers.
Want to learn more? Register now! www.wew2016.psew.pl
Author: Janusz Gajowiecki, PWEA Director