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EP-4652654-B1 - BALANCING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR BALANCING AN ELECTRICITY MARKET ZONE AND A LOCAL GRID ISLAND DOWNSTREAM TO A TRANSFORMER STATION HAVING A TRANSFORMER CAPACITY

EP4652654B1EP 4652654 B1EP4652654 B1EP 4652654B1EP-4652654-B1

Inventors

  • BIRKELUND, MOGENS

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20240117

Claims (12)

  1. A balancing system (100) for balancing an electricity market zone (10) and a local grid island (20) downstream to a transformer station (30) having a transformer capacity and operating at a transformer load, the balancing system (100) comprises - at least one electric power unit (110) connected to the same transformer station (30), each electric power unit (110) having a maximum power consumption greater than 0.1 MW; - means (120) for monitoring a market frequency of the electricity market zone (10); - a communication module (130) configured for at least receiving transformer load of a transformer station (30); - a controller (140) comprising at least one processor and at least one memory that includes program code, wherein the memory and the program code is configured to cause the processor to control power consumption of the at least one electric power unit (110), wherein the controller (140) is configured to operate the at least one electric power unit (110) as a function of the market frequency, the transformer capacity, and the transformer load, wherein the controller (140) is configured to have the transformer capacity take precedence over the market frequency and the controller is configured to cause the communication module (130) to send a consumption request to one or more market balancing systems (100) within the electricity market zone (10) not forming part of the same local grid island (20) as a function of the transformer capacity taking precedence over the market frequency.
  2. A balancing system (100) according to claim 1, wherein the controller (140) is further configured to define one or more virtual power units (150) having a virtual power consumption up to an accumulated maximum power consumption being the sum of maximum power consumptions as a function of the at least one electric power unit (110), the market frequency, transformer capacity, and the transformer load, and wherein the controller (140) is configured to operate the one or more virtual power units (150) as a function of the market frequency, the transformer capacity, and the transformer load.
  3. A balancing system (100) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the balancing system (100) is configured for being part of a symmetric power frequency control service and wherein the controller (140) is configured to operate the at least one electric power unit (110) at a pre-set electric operation power being equal to or less than half of the maximum power consumption.
  4. A balancing system (100) according to anyone of the preceding claims, wherein the maximum power consumption is at least 2 MW or 5 MW or 10 MW or 15 MW or 20 MW or greater.
  5. A balancing system (100) according to anyone of claims 1-4, wherein the at least one electric power unit (110) include at least one dual power unit (160) comprising an electric power unit (110) and a fuel combustion unit (170), wherein the controller (140) is configured to operate the at least one dual power unit (160) as a function of the market frequency, transformer capacity, the transformer load, and required power output.
  6. A balancing system (100) according to anyone of claims 1-5, wherein - the at least one electric power unit (110) include an electric boiler; or - the at least one dual power unit (160) include an electric boiler and the fuel combustion unit (170) configured to heat the electric boiler.
  7. A balancing system (100) according to anyone of claims 1-6, wherein the at least one electric power unit (110) includes a battery unit (180) paired with one of the at least one electric power unit (110), wherein the battery unit (180) is configured for powering the paired electric power unit (110) to reduce transformer load.
  8. A method (1000) for balancing an electricity market zone (10) and a local grid island (20) downstream to a transformer station (30) having a transformer capacity operating at a transformer load, the method (1000) comprising steps of - providing (1100) at least one electric power unit (110) connected to the same transformer station (30), each electric power unit (110) having a maximum power consumption greater than 0.1 MW; - receiving (1300) transformer load and market frequency of the electricity market zone (10); - operating (1400) the at least one electric power unit (110) as a function of transformer load, transformer capacity, and market frequency, wherein the step of operating (1400) is performed by the transformer capacity take precedence over the market frequency by performing a step of sending a consumption request to one or more market balancing systems (100) within the electricity market zone (10) not forming part of the same local grid island (20) as a function of the transformer capacity taking precedence over the market frequency.
  9. A method (1000) according to claim 8, wherein the method (1000) includes steps of - defining (1200) one or more virtual power units (150) having a virtual power consumption up to an accumulated maximum power consumption being the sum of maximum power consumptions as a function of the at least one electric power unit (110), the market frequency, transformer capacity, and the transformer load; and - wherein the step of operating (1400) includes operating (1400) the one or more virtual power units (150).
  10. A method (1000) according to claim 8- 9, wherein the step of operating (1400) is performed by operating (1400) the at least one electric power unit (110) at a pre-set electric operation power being equal to or less than half of the maximum power consumption.
  11. A method (1000) according to anyone of claims 8-10, wherein the step of providing (1100) includes providing (1100) at least one dual power unit (160) comprising an electric power unit (110) and a fuel combustion unit (170), and the step of operating (1400) includes operating (1400) the at least one dual power unit (160) as a function of the market frequency, transformer capacity, the transformer load, and required power output of the at least one dual power unit (160).
  12. A method (1000) according to anyone of claims 8-11, wherein - the at least one electric power unit (110) include an electric boiler; or - the at least one dual power unit (160) include an electric boiler and the fuel combustion unit (170) configured to heat the electric boiler.

Description

Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a balancing system and method for balancing an electricity market zone and a local grid island downstream to a transformer station having a transformer capacity and operating at a transformer load, so that expansion of the transformer capacity can be delayed and/or proportions of the expansion can be reduced. Background of the Invention The transition from fossil fuels to renewables will require a significant expansion of the electricity grid as renewables will mainly be producing electricity. It is estimated that the capacity of the electricity grid of Denmark must be at least doubled within a short time span. The introduction of battery-powered vehicles is already putting a strain on the electricity grid as the energy previously provided by fossil fuels must now be supplied by the electricity grid. Furthermore, electricity production of renewables is not on-demand but will to a large extent depend on the weather. As a result, in Denmark, there will be a large electricity power increase and excess electricity power when there is a lot of wind and a large electricity power decrease and electricity power deficit when there is no wind or low wind speeds. This could be repeated for solar power as a function of solar energy. Thus, the balancing of the electricity market will only increase in complexity as the transition away from fossil fuels proceeds. The transition can however be delayed if the transition cannot happen ahead of the expansion of the electricity grid. In the near future, there will be an increased number of situations where a local grid island downstream to a transformer station will have reached the transformer capacity of the transformer station and thus no more electric power can be supplied to the local grid island without straining the transformer station and thereby significantly increasing wear of the transformer station. Thus, there is a need for a balancing system and method, which can counteract the challenges posed by the transition to renewables by being able to balance an electricity market zone, while ensuring that the transformer station operates within the transformer capacity. US20130245847 describes generation of energy-related revenue for an energy customer of an electricity supplier. The disclosure is implemented by generating suggested operating schedules for energy assets that include a controllable energy asset, using an objective function. US2020373758 describes a system for controlling voltage supply to a portion of a distribution grid. The portion of the grid including a substation providing one or more transformers operable to increase or decrease the voltage supplied to consumers within the portion of the grid. Object of the Invention It is an object of the invention to provide a balancing system and method for balancing an electricity market zone and a local grid island downstream to a transformer station having a transformer capacity and operating at a transformer load, so that expansion of the transformer capacity can be delayed and/or proportions of the expansion can be reduced. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention is defined by a balancing system for balancing an electricity market zone and a local grid island downstream to a transformer station having a transformer capacity and operating at a transformer load, with the technical features of independent claim 1 and by a corresponding method with the steps of independent claim 8. Advantageous embodiments are described in the dependent claims. Thereby, a balancing system is provided which can balance the frequency of the electricity market zone while ensuring that the transformer station does not operate at a transformer load being above the transformer capacity. Because the balancing system enables operation of the at least one electric power unit as a function of transformer capacity, the local grid island can have a greater overcapacity of electric power consumption than prior art solutions as the balancing system can decrease power consumption to keep the transformer load below the transformer capacity. This is especially relevant for the local grid island having a large number of power stations for charging electric vehicles is installed as this large number of power stations greatly increases the electric power consumption, at the same time as there is a transition towards heat pumps and/or electric boilers as replacement for gas heating or other kinds of fuel-driven heating. A significant expansion of the transformer capacity will be required, in order for the transformer to be able to supply electric power to all the electric units at peak periods. However, it can be calculated using statistics peak periods exceeding transformer load will, in many cases, be 100-500 hours a year. Thus, in most periods the transformer will be able to deliver power to The peak periods can be counteracted by reducing power consumption of the at least one electric power