The National Grid is responsible for managing energy supply and demand across Great Britain and to do this, system frequency must be maintained at 50Hz. The fast-changing energy landscape and increasing amount of renewable generation on the system that results in frequency volatility have required National Grid to develop new and innovative ways to manage frequency to ensure that energy keeps flowing to where it is needed.
The Enhanced Frequency Response tender has been developed to bring forward new technologies that support the decarbonisation of the energy industry by providing a fast response solution to system volatility. Previously the fastest frequency response was delivered in under ten seconds, however, a new class of technology means this response can now happen in under a second.
This enhanced ability to control variations in frequency almost immediately will result in reduced costs of approximately 200 million pounds and streamline services to make them as efficient as possible meaning reduced costs for the end consumer.
Bids have been received from 37 providers, the majority of which are from battery assets and of these eight have been accepted, the details of which can be found on the National Grid website. Of the 64 unique sites taking part, 61 are for battery assets, 2 from demand reduction and one from thermal generation. Contracts have been awarded for a four-year term giving providers the certainty that they need to develop this technology.
Cordi O’Hara, Director of UK System Operator, National Grid said: ‘We are constantly looking to the future to understand how we can make the most of the energy available to us. This project is at the very core of our Power Responsive work, to balance the Grid by the most efficient means possible, saving money and energy.
‘These awards show that we can work with industry to bring forward new technology and I believe storage has much to contribute to the flexible energy system of tomorrow. This is the beginning of an exciting new chapter for the industry.’
