Eirgrid raises System Non-Synchronous Penetration limit to 75%

Jonathan

http://www.eirgridgroup.com/newsroom/electricity-grid-to-run-o/index.xml

Eirgrid have announced that they have raised the System Non-Synchronous Penetration (SNSP) limit to 75%. This is great news as it means less fossil fuel plants need to be running during periods of high wind.

bullit_dodger

That's impressive.

While I've an engineering background, and I don't fully understand the details there, I know enough to know enough (LOL) that balancing the grid at those levels is tricky.

Jonathan

The new synchronous condenser at Moneypoint isn't commissioned yet either, so once online that will enable Eirgrid to raise the limit even further.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118900358#Comment_118900358

One good explanation I heard was that the frequency and generation is a two way street, if the frequency goes out of bounds it actually creates something like a drag force on the generators and can damage them

Things like steam turbines have a lot of intertia when they're running so they can kind of smooth out any variations themselves

Wind turbines and don't have that same ability and are a bit noisy by design anyway so that why they can't absorb frequency variations

Having said that I think the Hywind project in Scotland got around a lot of problems by having a battery onshore just before the grid connection. It fairly small, around 1MWh, but helps do grid balancing for the turbines