Being an island, Britain has a more or less self-contained electricity grid. This makes it a good place to try an experiment for making green energy more stable
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskBut green energy brings another, more subtle, problem. Modern electrical grids operate on alternating currents , and these need to be of a fixed and reliable frequency . This frequency’s stability is maintained by a phenomenon called grid inertia, which results from the real, physical inertia embodied in the power-generating turbines of fossil-fuel power stations.These turbines act as massive, inertia-storing flywheels.
A second Statkraft plant should open in the autumn, near Liverpool. Instead of large masses rotating relatively slowly, this will rely on smaller ones spinning fast . Both approaches embody about the same amount of inertia, and in combination the pair will store around 2% of the inertia currently required to support Britain’s grid. That is equivalent to the inertial contribution of a conventional coal-fired station.
The firm hopes, as well as all this, to develop ways of stabilising the network without spinning lumps of metal for their own sake. That will involve the use of what are known as grid-forming inverters. Existing inverters are described as “grid following”. This means they monitor and fit in with the established frequency of the grid they are feeding into. That suits grid managers well enough when solar and wind contribute only a small fraction of a grid’s total power, but is progressively less suitable as that contribution rises. However, inverters can be designed to be “grid forming” instead—meaning the current they put out mimics the external stabilising effect of mechanical inertia.
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