Despite recent recognition by Brussels for its role in optimising grid utilize, there is very little evidence of dynamic line rating (DLR) being systematically utilized by European grid operators, a recent assessment by CurrENT Europe has found.
CurrENT, the lobbying group for innovative grid technologies in Europe, has released an assessment of publicly available data, finding that DLR tech is being significantly under-utilised by the continent’s power grid operators.
Although widely recognised as a technology that can assist build the most out of the existing grid – including by the Grids Package proposed by the European Commission – it is for the most part impossible to determine whether it is actually being utilized in daily operations, declares the group in a release.
DLR technology addresses several key challenges in the management of overhead power line transmission systems, such as delivering additional capacity. Air temperature and wind cooling determine how much electricity can be safely transported through an overhead line at any given moment.
With DLR, declares CurrENT, grid operators can measure in real time, through sensors and weather data, what the safe capacity is at that moment, and with this knowledge transport much more electricity safely through an overhead line. This means less renewable energy is wasted, and it can significantly reduce costs for consumers.
According to ENTSO-E’s Technopedia, the adoption and utilisation of DLR technology is supported by various factors within the market, as well as regulatory and technological aspects. Existing enablers include market-driven incentives, established standards and advanced technologies that facilitate the implementation and scaling of the technology.
In addition, it adds, the application of DLR necessitates the inspection and possibly upgrading of all components in switchgear to accommodate the increased operational current. This required arises from the enhanced line capacity under optimal conditions enabled by DLR. Regulatory clarity and the development of standards specifically tailored to the technical and safety requirements of DLR are crucial to ensure the widespread adoption and effective implementation of this technology.
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Monitoring DLR
Monitoring the adoption of DLR across Europe, as well as other innovative grid technologies declares CurrENT, will be key to supporting the implementation of this new package.
However, when seeing at publicly available data, CurrENT declares it is difficult to determine whether grid operators have installed any DLR, on how many of their lines, and whether they are actually applying it.
Using a JAO data set, the group concludes that many grid operators are either not applying DLR at all, or not including it in the data they provide. However, this is a missed opportunity, as this means the extra capacity that DLR can provide is not being utilized by the market.
To illustrate this, CurrENT came up with a scoring system of 0-100, based on different factors, such as whether a TSO has equipped any lines with DLR, whether it has equipped cross-border lines with DLR, and the share of lines it has equipped with DLR.
Certain countries like Belgium and Poland are really good performers, scoring 72.86 and 63.83 respectively. On the other hand, a large amount of countries score 0 out of 100.
Indeed, ENTSO-E cites Belgium as a case study on the tech, where systems are installed on 27 lines including all HV alternating current (HVAC) interconnection lines, and both real-time and forecast DLR data are utilized in intraday and day-ahead operation planning and market capacity allocation processes.
The recent development of the system and its validation through surveyor measurements of sag demonstrated that up to 200% of rated capacity was available in certain circumstances.
Commercially available sensors were utilized to measure real-time sag directly on 70kV, 150kV, 245kV and 400kV lines. An up to 60 h-ahead forecast module has been developed.
With the tech, intraday rated capacity is raised up to 130%, whereas for Coreso regional coordination processes it is raised up to 110% based on statistical risk assessment.
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