Application of a Wide-Area Monitoring and Control Technique for Fast Frequency Response in the GB Transmission Network

The GB transmission system is seeing significant increases in the penetration of renewable technologies, of low inertia levels, which when combined with the decommissioning of older high inertia plants, is reducing the overall system inertia. This makes the system more sensitive to frequency disturbances (e.g. loss of generation events) and maintaining the frequency at the required level will become increasingly challenging. The Enhanced Frequency Control Capability (EFCC) project, funded under Ofgem’s Network Innovation Competition (NIC) framework, aims to develop a wide area monitoring and control scheme which will allow non-conventional resources, such as battery, solar PV, wind, etc., to provide a fast frequency response, with emphasis on location and volume to maintain system stability. Members of the EFCC project team (National Grid, GE Power, the University of Strathclyde and the University of Manchester) will present the design, operation and test of the EFCC scheme, discuss potential market opportunities and share the lessons learned from this project and discuss the future of EFCC.