DONG Energy and Schneider Electric recently entered an agreement to cooperate on a technological and commercial partnership aimed at enabling electric network operators of remote or isolated island grids to increase the share of renewable energy used while maintaining grid stability and reliability for consumers.
DONG has developed a virtual power plant system called Power Hub, which is designed to aggregate loads and generation capacity for network flexibility through a software platform. According to Ivan Kristian Pedersen, who is in charge of Power Hub Technologies at DONG, the system has demonstrated its ability to optimize, balance and improve the stability of remote microgrids on Denmark’s Faroe Islands, situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean.
In Europe alone, at least 286 remote islands distanced from mainland grids exist. These isolated island grids are often heavily diesel-dependent, incurring high electricity costs and subject to fluctuating fuel prices. This is a barrier for local economic development, for improving living standards and for reducing carbon emissions. Many island utility operators aim to replace diesel with renewable generation to reduce costs and reach renewable targets. However the main challenge of integrating intermittent renewable energy is the ensuing complexity of balancing the grid and maintaining reliability and stability. In effect this can cap the amount of renewable energy which can be efficiently integrated.
The partnership between Schneider Electric and DONG will seek to integrate Power Hub with Schneider’s power and grid management software platform. The goal is to enable DONG to address the challenge of how to run an isolated electricity system in a safe and economically optimal manner, while making maximum use of renewables. Achieving this kind of control within microgrid systems is seen as having important implications not only in Denmark, but globally.
“On the Faroe Islands, their goal is to achieve 75% integration of renewable by 2020,” says Joe Andersen, Business Development Director for Global Offshore Wind & Onshore Wind at Schneider Electric. “To do that, you need to enable a mix of technologies – such as PV, wind, pumped hydro, batteries, traditional power generation – and control them effectively.” Andersen notes that the renewables control center is one of the main elements that Schneider Electric plans to bring to the table in projects like the Faroe project; a technology designed to allow for the automatic control of both renewable and traditional energy inputs, based on predetermined set points.
The joint architecture with DONG Energy includes an advanced distribution management system (ADMS), power control system, renewable control center, and weather forecasting applications designed to offer real-time generation and demand forecasting, monitoring and control. According to Schneider, weather and load forecasting and fast load shedding capabilities will allow island utility operators to operate sustainable, efficient and economically viable power systems and benefit local communities.
Building off the Faroe Island initiative, Andersen sees the standardization of microgrid technologies as a key enabler for the growth of the industry overall.
“Lessons learned here can be used in a variety of microgrid scenarios,” he says. “We think this is going to be the future – not only for islands or remote sites, but also for existing utilities.” He notes that the kind of intricate power system control being developed for projects like Faroe will help traditional energy providers meet their goals for renewables integration – including Denmark’s goal of deriving 100% of its energy from renewables by 2050.
