- The Spanish partners of the European consortium have presented their conclusions on the Spanish pilot scheme, led by "e-distribución", Endesa's network subsidiary.
Progress involving greater coordination between those managing electricity transmission and distribution networks to contribute to the development of a more sustainable, efficient, safe, secure and resilient electricity system. And trying out new flexibility services to meet the technical and operational challenges presented by increasing the decarbonisation of the energy mix and new uses for electricity. These are the objectives of the CoordiNet Project, whose managers presented their conclusions on the Spanish pilot scheme on Wednesday at Endesa's headquarters in Madrid.
The connection of new renewable generation close to the end-consumer with a variable production profile, and a greater electrification of demand as a result of the growing use of electric vehicles, are changing the energy flows through the electricity grid, making them more variable, and even bidirectional depending on the time of day. In this regard, it is essential to explore new ways of operating and managing the grid so as to take advantage of the flexible capacity that consumers and generators now have. For example, consumers have the possibility of charging their electric vehicle in accordance with the state of the grid and, in return, receive financial compensation. This new approach is based on the creation of new markets for flexibility services and enables more efficient and sustainable use of the entire electricity system.
During the last three years, eight companies and institutions led by e-distribución, Endesa's network subsidiary, have been working on the different pilot schemes developed in Spain to advance along this path and lay the foundations for an electricity system where the flexibility of the resources connected to the grid -generation, demand (consumers) and storage- makes it easier to use the electricity system more efficiently and enables a greater integration of renewable capacity. The objective is to create a more open and resilient system in which agents play an active role to solve network saturations and improve the voltage in the electricity system: Consumers, by modifying their consumption pattern, for example by varying the consumption of their air conditioning equipment or charging their electric vehicle, and generators or storage units by making available to the system the latest technological advances in power electronics that enable the voltage of the network to be controlled. In this new context, consumers and generators get financial compensation for their active participation in the system.
The Spanish pilot scheme was conducted in five locations: Cádiz, Málaga, Murcia, Alicante and Albacete, where the implementation of flexibility services was tested to solve the technical and operational requirement of the network. Flexibility provided by more than 1,100 MW (including generation in renewable plants, cogeneration plants, batteries, consumption of municipal and business offices) was used to contribute to resolving saturations in the High, Medium and Low voltage network, to controlling voltage in the network, to operating controlled electricity islands and frequency services. REE, e-distribución, I-DE, Universidad Pontificia Comillas, N-Side, ONE, Tecnalia and Málaga City Council contributed to establishing the foundations of flexibility services in a real project.
The scope of the project included the creation of new platforms, as well as the development of existing platforms for distribution system operators, transport system operators, flexibility resource aggregators and flexibility service markets. Flexibility services are understood to be the ability to change consumption or generation patterns to support system operation and network management. In flexibility markets, that capacity is what is bought and sold. Aggregators are companies that make it possible for customers (consumers, generators or storage) to participate in those markets and it is especially important for small units, be they generators or consumers, to be able to participate by selling their flexibility.
Network monitoring and sensoring devices were installed in 149 distribution centres to identify the need to activate flexibility services to solve grid saturations and voltage problems.
In the case of the e-Distribution pilot scheme, deployed in Cádiz and Málaga, different platforms were developed to enable more efficient communication with common platforms with REE and with consumers, generators and storage. A local flexibility market was also tested to resolve saturations in the low voltage network.
The results of the project show the need to update national regulations for the creation of markets for flexibility services, as well as defining the corresponding technical specifications. This could enable participants to obtain additional income in exchange for adapting their consumption or generation pattern to the needs of the system.
"The growing electrification of the economy linked to the progressive abandonment of fossil fuels is causing exponential growth in distributed generation that requires the development of new flexibility services to achieve a resilient, efficient, secure and safe decarbonised electricity system so that this growth is not only covered by new infrastructures but also by making more rational use of existing ones for the benefit of everyone", said Miguel Pardo, head of e-distribution projects and coordinator of the Spanish pilot scheme in the Coordinet project.
The Coordinet project involved 23 companies and institutions from ten countries with three large-scale pilot projects in Spain, Greece and Sweden. It was funded by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 programme and will present its final conclusions on 16 and 17 June in Brussels.
About Endesa
Endesa is the largest electricity company in Spain and the second largest in Portugal. The company is also the second largest gas operator in Spain. Endesa operates an end-to-end generation, distribution and marketing business. Through Endesa X it also offers value-added services aimed at the electrification of energy usage in homes, companies, industries and Public Administrations. Endesa is firmly committed to the United Nations SDGs and strongly supports the development of renewable energies through Enel Green Power España, the digitalisation of grids through e-distribución, and corporate social responsibility (CSR). The Endesa Foundation is also active in CSR. Our workforce numbers around 9,260 employees. Endesa is a division of Enel, Europe’s largest electricity group.