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Bidding on renewables: an interview with the Best Paths coordinator
Solutions for bringing large-scale renewable energy into the power grid were under study.
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Most renewable power is produced far from where it is used, so capturing it and sharing it at scale is hard. Vicente González López, head of R&D at the Spanish transmission system operator Red Eléctrica de España (REE) in Madrid, discussed the main difficulties in developing new network technologies to raise Europe’s capacity to move electricity from renewable sources. The underlying aim was a more flexible electricity system, the same goal set for BEST PATHS, the European research project he coordinated from its start in 2014.
Can large-scale renewables carry a low-carbon economy?
His answer began with a correction. “First of all, we should no longer talk about renewable energies, as if it was a big burden for the people in the sector,” he said. The operational difficulty, in his view, is that system operators cannot dispatch renewable generation the way they have always dispatched conventional power plants, while the electrical system must keep generation and consumption in balance at every moment. His summary: “The answer to this question is YES, but just in case all the relevant actors assume this challenge as their own one.”
Recent technical advances
The work went beyond carrying the output of offshore wind parks to the areas where power is consumed. “We want to evolve the so-called Voltage Source Converter (VSC),” González López explained, describing it as a technology that transfers energy while maintaining the security of the system. The final aim, he said, was interoperability between solutions supplied by different manufacturers.
Effects on the environment
He described the environmental consequences as positive and the main advantage for consumers. Grid operators want to make the most of existing grid facilities, which he called one of the conditions for building the grid of the future at an affordable cost; for that reason the project put much emphasis on upgrading present networks. It also worked on limiting the environmental impact of the new facilities needed to run a CO2-free power system. The largest effect, though, comes from replacing oil- and fossil-based generation with renewables, which cuts greenhouse gas emissions directly.
Security of supply
“For sure, renewable energies must contribute more to the security and the quality of supply, in accordance with their paramount role within the complete chain of supply,” he said. Europe’s current levels of security of supply, by his account, were better than in any other region of the world. Replacing conventional plants with renewables, however, calls for new grid services to hold those levels, and the project was studying new functions of that kind.
What consumers gain
He framed it as an equation with two variables, environmental sustainability and cost, and a question for European society about which it wants. “If sustainability is the priority, our research will help to maximise sustainability at the best possible costs for the industry, investors, suppliers and, ultimately, consumers.”
The multi-vendor converter work he mentions was carried out in the second demonstration; its findings on why HVDC converters from different suppliers do not simply plug together are on the Demonstration 2 page.