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Existing electricity grid could transport up to 60 percent more power
18.10.2024
The Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies (VDE) has published technical specifications on how more electricity can be transported in the existing grid.
The German electricity grid could already transport significantly more electricity, according to a technical study by the VDE Energy Technology Society (VDE ETG). It makes recommendations on what measures could be taken to make better use of the existing grid. This is important in light of the fact that renewable energy plants are currently often curtailed because their electricity does not fit into the grid, which results in high social costs (redispatch).
According to the ETG, the increased utilization of operating resources provides a short-term solution to this problem, as the necessary expansion and digitalization of the grids still requires time. The experts see reserves in the operation of transformers, overhead lines, cables, switching devices and switchgear. They estimate the additional load capacity at up to 60 percent, depending on the equipment.
According to the ETG, this is possible without jeopardizing the security of supply. "We would like to encourage operators and planners to actually implement the new approaches," write the authors. Millions of tons of carbon dioxide could be saved with comparatively simple means, summarizes task force leader Prof. Maik Koch from Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences.
Increasing the performance of a transmission chain
As the current situation with grid bottlenecks and sluggish implementation of the grid expansion is likely to continue for many years to come, the task force has investigated in more detail how the existing grid resources can actually be physically loaded. The study distinguishes between a permissible increased load within the material limits and an impermissible overload with unacceptable risks for the technology.
The experts calculated a higher current carrying capacity of up to 60 percent for cables and up to 50 percent for transformers. Conductor cables can therefore withstand up to 58 percent more load when switching to weather-dependent overhead line operation. The current current carrying capacity is calculated dynamically from weather data and transferred to the control technology. For switchgear, the additional load capacity is 15 percent, which can be achieved through improved cooling or digital monitoring with sensors.
In order to implement measures to increase capacity utilization across the board, the possibilities of the specific systems must be considered, but further questions still need to be answered. In particular, the interplay between technical regulation, the actual physical possibilities and legal restrictions resulting from liability risks would need to be addressed across all departments. The increased capacity utilization can also have an impact on the frequency of faults and ageing. The task force therefore recommends monitoring both parameters.
Author: Susanne Harmsen