The first stage of the Electricity System Operator’s (ESO) Pennine Voltage Pathfinder system has gone live as part of its plan to manage voltages on the rapidly changing electricity network.
Three shunt reactors have been installed by National Grid Electricity Transmission at its Stalybridge, Stocksbridge and Bradford West substations, helping to maintain optimal levels of voltage despite the closure of fossil fuel power stations in the region. Two of these reactors have been live since May of this year and have provided near continuous voltage management service.
Shunt reactors are used in high voltage electricity transmission systems in order to control voltage in the system during fluctuating loads, by absorbing reactive power at times of high load.
Another voltage management asset connected to the Dogger Bank C wind farm will be connected in 2026 to maintain voltage levels in the north east of England.
Julian Leslie, director of strategic energy planning and chief engineer at ESO said: “Delivering new services that can produce the reactive power tools such as voltage management that we use on a daily basis to keep the electricity network stable and secure is paramount to delivering our 2025 ambition and to deliver net-zero.”
Jon Davies, director of network operations and intelligence at National Grid Electricity Transmission, said: “Making sure electricity supplies are stable and reliable is paramount as Britain’s energy system decarbonises. Our installation of these shunt reactors on our network as part of this innovative project is an engineering solution that supports ESO’s safe and secure operation of the system into the future, with significant savings for consumers.”
Change on the horizon for ESO
Earlier this month, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) formally announced that the government had acquired ESO, which will be transferred to public ownership and officially launched as National Energy System Operator (NESO) on 1 October. The process has been costly and faced delays; as such, the UK’s energy regulator Ofgem has raised the upper limit of costs National Grid can recoup for the transition to £91 million (in 2018/19 prices).
ESO recently faced a barrage of criticism from developers of battery energy storage systems (BESS), who argued in a letter that ESO is incapable of delivering a strong grid for the future due to its tendency to skip energy storage solutions during times of energy oversupply.
Despite these setbacks, National Grid and ESO continue to work to improve the UK’s grid system; Ofgem’s Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) recently awarded National Grid £15.3 million to develop new grid transmission solutions across several projects.
