CROSSBOW organised a workshop in North Macedonia
On 17th October some partners of CROSSBOW project organised the workshop “Operational and Market Challenges in Connected Power Systems with Increased Share of Renewables” in Skopje, North Macedonia.
Around seventy people from the energy sector (TSO, DSO, market operator, producers, suppliers and academia) participated in this event, organised by the University Sts. Cyril and Methodius of Skopje (UKIM), Electricity Transmission System Operator of Macedonia (MEPSO) and AD Elektrani na Makedonija Skopje – Direkcija (ESM former ELEM).
The workshop aimed to disseminate fresh ideas raised within CROSSBOW project that address contemporary challenges of power systems operation with increased share of renewables and in a highly demanding market environment.
The ideas presented in the workshop were aligned with the aims of the CROSSBOW project and therefore emphasise the same key points.
Topics addressed
In Session 1, the speakers outlined the regulatory, operational and control challenges that the power sector is facing as a result of the transition towards a sustainable future. A special consideration was given to cross-border balancing as it is identified as an important aspect in dealing with these challenges. This provided the basis for the ideas presented in the Workshop. Then, Session 2 was dedicated to three contemporary ideas for development in power systems, namely testing of Smart Grid applications, DSO and customer involvement in the energy transition with regard to grid operation. Lastly, the speakers in the panel session offered real-life operational and market experiences of the challenges and solutions to integrating renewable energy sources (RES).
Conclusions
▪ Security of supply is facing increased risk due to abundance and increased uncertainties (i.e. complexity) in network assets, generation, load, control systems and ICT, while the capability to maintain frequency (inertia, volatility) is reduced.
▪ The cross-border shared use and optimal management of RES and storage units can enhance their economic benefits, competitiveness and effectiveness, thus fostering the penetration of these important technologies, while reducing network operational costs.
▪ Integrating non-dispatchable and dispatchable RES together with energy storage units, under an advanced control system, leads to a more secure, stable and cleaner energy supply. The CROSSBOW RES-DU product offers multiple benefits to individual assets and local grid support. ▪ Optimally coordinating these hybrid plants along with other resources can benefit the transmission system, or even multiple connected systems. The development of the Manager of Energy for Hybrid Plants (ME4HP) shall deploy and demonstrate a set of solutions boosting regional cross-border cooperation, balancing and re-dispatching of regional resources by considering specific market mechanisms in each SEE country.
▪ Large-scale Demand Side Management (DSM) may affect network performance indicators at both distribution and transmission level, therefore there is a need for advanced DSM deployment. Multiobjective DSM could be used as a support tool for integrating DSM flexibility in grid operation, and cross-border DSM coordination to support operation in one or multiple interconnected transmission networks in the region.
▪ Consumer involvement, the changing load profile (primarily due to electrification of transport, heating and industry), and increasing number of distributed energy resources (DER) all lead to a growing importance of the role of DSOs. They must adopt new concepts in network planning, asset management, and system management and operation. DSOs need to evolve through digitalisation and innovation to deliver energy resiliency at a local level.
▪ TSO-DSO coordination, among other benefits, can offer better voltage regulation, whole-system balancing through local control, and harness flexibility of DER. ECDSO-E unites efforts in the DSO evolution, particularly the TSO2DSO task force that aims to enhance the cooperation with TSOs in different areas.
▪ CROSSBOW products Virtual Storage Plant (VSP), Regional Balancing Cockpit (ROC-BC), RES Regional Coordination Centre (RES-CC), Wide Area Monitoring and Awareness System (WAMAS), Regional Demand Side Management Integration Platform (DSM-IP), Wholesale and Ancillary Market Toolset (AM), and Cooperative Owned Flexibility Assets Platform (CFP), although could be implemented independently, all jointly facilitate optimal cross-border share of resources and support the aims of the project.
▪ AM will propose a novel market design for enhanced RES and storage participation in providing frequency support services.
▪ The implementation of contemporary ICT solutions, blockchain and application programming interfaces in CROSSBOW products ensures security of the cyber-physical system, as well as advanced capabilities and ease in operation.
▪ There is initial resistance to the real-world implementation of these new ideas. However, this fact is expected as the status quo is being challenged. In addition, it highlights the need for such workshops and CROSSBOW dissemination activities, in order to raise awareness of the addressed challenges and the importance of acting now in order to keep the lights on in future.
Agenda here.