A three-year project is under way that could allow the electricity grid to be restored after a blackout using renewable energy resources.
The three-year project will see Scotland’s two transmission (SP Energy Networks and SSEN Transmission) companies work together with wind farm operators and developers including SSE Renewables and Ørsted and the National HVDC Centre to model restoration methods using offshore wind.
Currently, offshore wind farms cannot restart the grid themselves. Hydro generators are the traditional first port of call if there was a national power cut as they can restart without support from the grid. They can then generate electricity to send to the grid and, as part of a coordinated plan, help power up different types of generation like gas power stations and wind farms to get all the lights back on. Transmission companies are now investigating more options to offer the National Energy System Operator (NESO).
The so-called “Blade” project will be trialled in a specialist lab which will be set up to model the real-life scenario. SP Energy Networks is working with manufacturers, offshore wind farm developers, the NESO and other transmission companies to consider how it could then potentially be rolled out to offshore wind farms across the UK.
Blade builds on SP Energy Networks’ and NESO’s Distributed ReStart project, demonstrating the ability to restore the electricity network from small scale distribution connected generators. It is now being fully deployed to provide alternative means of restoring power in the event of a national power outage.