Sustainable future network interconnectivity

The brilliant minds of Franklin, Volta, Tesla, Edison and Dobrovolsky laid the foundations for the industrial age through uncovering the secrets of producing and using electrical energy. 

As the world moves towards a sustainable energy future, electricity is becoming an ever more important source of energy – it will be the backbone of our sustainable energy future. Multiple studies indicate that electricity consumption will keep increasing and account for over 40 per cent of total energy demand by 2050.

In Australia, wind, solar and hydro will be the basis of electrifying the transportation, mining, building and industrial sectors. Where direct electrification is either not efficient or impossible, complementary and sustainable energy carriers, such as green hydrogen, will be introduced.

Australia already has amongst the world’s highest penetration of wind and solar in its generation mix. The latest Clean Energy Report from the Clean Energy Council highlights that over 30 per cent of total generation in Australia in 2021 came from renewable sources – mostly wind, small and large scale solar, and hydro.

As wind and solar are intermittent resources, growth in their use increases the complexity of grid integration and requires a more flexible network.

Demand growth, two-way energy flow, and the need to connect widely distributed energy sources are driving the need to significantly upgrade and expand grid capacity and interconnectivity. IEA’s World Energy Outlook for 2020 underscores these needs, stating “the pace of change in the electricity sector puts an additional premium on robust grids and other sources of flexibility.”

Addressing the need for flexibility, Hitachi Energy’s Chief Technology Officer, Gerhard Salge, said, “In order to manage a significantly higher amount of fluctuating power generation and new consumption patterns, our energy system needs to become more flexible and further evolving technology development is required to deliver this.

“Innovative grid components using power electronics will provide the operational flexibility needed to enable grids to become more efficient.

“Sensors will provide the necessary information and digital solutions will communicate and process the huge amount of information in more intelligent grid control centres.

“This will enable faster decision making in a much more dynamic environment than we have ever seen before.”

Improving network interconnectivity and capacity, through the optimisation and augmentation of existing infrastructure and building new capacity, is required to realise the sustainable energy future.

Governments are supporting this development through the creation of Renewable Energy Zones, which will assist in optimising investment and development in renewable generation capacity and network infrastructure.

Connection of proposed offshore wind projects will also require network upgrades. Announcements of projects off the coast of New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia give some concept of the scale of investment required.

And of course, the Battery of the Nation project, which will provide much needed firming capacity to the network, is dependent on the Marinus Link.

It’s very apparent that this new energy paradigm requires a significant build out and upgrade to grid infrastructure, and Hitachi Energy is well positioned to support this capacity expansion.

Offshore wind farms present a challenge when it comes to connection to the grid, a similar challenge will be connecting the Battery of the Nation to the National Electricity Market (NEM).

The VIC/SA interconnector (150KV) remains the longest underground HVDC cable system in the world.

Transmitting bulk energy using AC technology can also involve the application of sophisticated power electronics to ensure efficient transmission. Series and shunt compensation are the backbone of Flexible AC Transmissions Systems (FACTS).

Static Var Compensators (SVCs) ? and their smaller siblings, STACOMs ? are employed within the Australian NEM to support the AC transmission system. SVCs can provide network services including support in response to events such as short circuits, load, or generator disconnections as well as increasing transfer capacity and reducing losses.

In this way a flexible and robust transmission system is maintained. This is an area in which Hitachi Energy plays a leading role in the energy transition, with our technology employed extensively throughout the NEM.

As society moves towards a sustainable energy future, electricity will be the backbone and a robust, reliable and flexible transmission and distribution system will be essential.

A combination of power electronics and digital technologies will be needed to optimise the efficiencies of the existing grid, as well as build out the new grid to connect energy sources geographically dispersed across Australia’s vast landscape. It’s an exciting time for the industry.

In the spirit of Franklin, Volta, Tesla, Edison and Dobrovolsky, Hitachi Energy will continue to apply the pioneering focus and innovation that is part of the company’s DNA and the team is looking forward to co-creating a sustainable energy future for all.

By: Christopher Allan

From:  https://www.energymagazine.com.au/improving-network-interconnectivity-for-a-sustainable-energy-future/  

Editor: The graphic above shows ~32% total annual contribution of renewables to Australia’s electricity generation needs in 2020. In 2020-21, renewables delivered 60% of South Australia’s energy. On several occasions the State’s renewable energy generation has met 100% of local demand. The average wind and solar component of energy generation for the month of October 2021 was 72%. It is estimated that South Australia will reach 100% renewable electricity generation by 2030. http://www.renewablessa.sa.gov.au/  

Note: South Australia is one-and-a-half times bigger than the US state of Texas, almost as big as Egypt and has a population of less than 1.8 million people.