CHP plant operators face major challenges

Redispatch 2.0 - Which legal requirements do CHP plant operators from 100 kW have to fulfill?

Currently, many operators of combined heat and power (CHP) plants do not know exactly what to expect with the new regulations on the extended redispatch process, Redispatch 2.0. They were adopted in the Grid Expansion Acceleration Act (Nabeg) in May 2019 and must be implemented by all market partners, especially grid operators and plant operators, from October 1, 2021. Currently, only conventional generation plants with more than 10 MW of electrical capacity participate in redispatch to avoid grid congestion.

In the future, all generation plants above 100 kW will be included in redispatch measures:

Renewable energy plants (RE plants)
CHP plants
electric storage plants

This results in new requirements for the operation as well as for the management of these plants. Until now, RE plants have only been used for grid congestion management if they are curtailed as part of feed-in management. This is due to the priority of renewables: only when all conventional options have been exhausted via redispatch may RE plants be curtailed via feed-in management. The number and costs of redispatch measures have risen sharply recently. Many decentralized plants are located closer to the grid bottleneck and can thus resolve an impending bottleneck more precisely.

The goal of Redispatch 2.0

The regulated quantities are to be reduced upstream and downstream of network bottlenecks, thereby reducing costs in the overall system. This represents a major step in the digitization of the power system. This requires a new central data platform for the exchange of this data between all market players. This common platform will be provided by the connect+ network operator project. This will result in additional IT interfaces and processes for all market players. Network operators, balancing group managers and deployment managers (EIV) are affected.

The deployment manager is responsible for the operation of an energy generation plant. This can be the plant operator himself or a service company commissioned by him. Many plant operators are medium-sized energy suppliers who do not have large capacities in the area of the necessary IT systems or are simply busy with day-to-day business as well as other new issues. In addition, there are many affected plant operators from the industrial and commercial sectors who operate plants for their own supply. For these plant operators, VK Energie offers the fulfillment of the new requirements from Redispatch 2.0 in the role of the deployment manager. As a full-service provider, VK Energie takes over the complete data exchange with connect+ in this case, so that the plant operators do not have to make their own adjustments to their IT systems.

Data to be reported and timetable for implementation

The German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) has drafted an implementation scenario on which data are to be reported by the deployment manager to the connect+ data platform:

Reporting of initial plant master data by 17. August 2021
Daily reporting of the schedule forecast two days in advance and one day in advance as an update - each by 2:30 p.m. (first for 1. October 2021)
Unavailability, for example due to maintenance or malfunction of the system, must be reported immediately no more than one hour after becoming known (first time for October 1. October 2021)
In the event of a request, the system operator or its operations manager must regulate the power generation unit and, if necessary, inform the balancing group manager (BKV). This can also be done within the day.
Changes to the operating mode as well as surcharges for control power must also be transmitted to connect+

Redispatch 2.0 as an opportunity for economic plant optimization

In addition to the demands placed on plant operators by Redispatch 2.0, opportunities also arise from the necessary adjustments to plant IT. For many years, VK Energie has specialized in optimizing the operation of power generation plants. This is achieved by permanently optimizing a plant's schedule using artificial intelligence methods. Central input parameters for the optimization are forecasts for the heat demand and the electricity price as well as the anticipatory use of the heat storage tank - as far as this is available.

With the plant optimization, different economic goals can be achieved:

Flexibility
Spot market optimization
Reduction of start-up
Reduction of CO2 emissions

Because almost all plants still have a considerable optimization potential of up to 30% lying dormant compared to non-optimized operation.

Technical implementation of Redispatch 2.0 by the VK Box

In order to prepare a power generation plant for the redispatch requirements, a connection to the connect+ data platform must be made. This data interface exists between the central IT system of VK Energie and connect+. A compact hardware solution is used for this - the VK Box.

The VK Box is a kind of mini-computer that runs software algorithms from VK Energie. At the same time, it is the communication interface to the respective energy generation plant. On the one hand, the VK Box receives live data from the plant, for example on electricity production or the current heat demand. On the other hand, the box sends control signals to the plant. This is how the optimized schedule is implemented. If there is a call-up as part of the redispatch, the VK Box also serves to pass this on to the plant.

Implications for the plant operator

Of course, the plant operator receives remuneration for this system service. If a call takes place due to a redispatch measure, the grid operator is obliged to compensate for the resulting quantities on the side of the electricity balancing circuits. In addition, there is an effect on heat generation in the case of CHP plants that generate heat in addition to electricity. The question of a sufficient (substitute) heat supply falls within the risk sphere of the plant operator and cannot generally be held against a shutdown of the CHP plant.

There is not much time left before the start of Redispatch 2.0. All affected market players - whether grid or plant operators - should check to what extent they are affected by the new requirements and how they intend to implement them.

The goal of Redispatch 2.0

Data to be reported and timetable for implementation

Redispatch 2.0 as an opportunity for economic plant optimization

Technical implementation of Redispatch 2.0 by the VK Box

Implications for the plant operator

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