Hitachi and SPEN to boost UK's renewable energy flow
Up to 280-megawatts of added renewable energy to be added to grid, with the potential to power over 360,000 homes
Hitachi Energy has won an order from SP Energy Networks to design and deliver a first-of-its-kind power quality solution to balance the grid and boost the flow of renewable energy across the UK.
The solution will enable SP Energy Networks, the electricity network operator for Central & Southern Scotland and Merseyside, Cheshire, North & Mid-Wales and North Shropshire, to add more renewables into the grid and facilitate the phase-out of fossil fuels.
The project, located at SP Energy Networks’ substation at Eccles, consists of two sets of an SVC Light STATCOM (Static Synchronous Compensator) and a synchronous condenser controlled centrally by the MACH control system, connected at a common electrical node. This combination of technologies is designed to maximise the future power system’s potential while also providing increased system resilience, thus supporting the increasing integration of renewables into the electricity grid.
Each STATCOM installation uses Hitachi Energy’s advanced power electronics and MACH control and protection solution to provide system strength, instantaneous voltage control, and enable maximum power flow. This technology, which entrusts a STATCOM to control a local synchronous condenser, builds on an earlier collaboration between SP Energy Networks and Hitachi Energy on the network innovation competition project Phoenix supported by Ofgem, the energy regulator for the UK.
“The innovative power quality solution will increase the transfer capacity across the UK by up to 280 MW by improving the transmission network’s strength as more renewable generation is connected in Scotland,” said Billy Moore, senior project manager at SP Energy Networks. “The criticality of technology such as this will become more important as we reduce the usage of fossil fuels.”
“We are delighted to have co-created this innovative solution with SP Energy Networks, which will maintain grid stability and enable more clean electricity to flow through the system in the UK,” said Marco Berardi, head of Grid & Power Quality Solutions and Service business at Hitachi Energy. “This pioneering innovation is yet another addition to our ever-evolving portfolio of power quality solutions that help grid operators overcome the immediate and long-term challenges of the energy transition.”
