By Andrew Normand, Business Development Director at Encora Energy
As the fight against climate change continues, Britain is producing more of its electricity supply from renewable sources. According to data from National Grid, wind generation provided more than 20GW of electricity on a single day for the first time in November 2022 – a record that was smashed again the following month when 20.92GW of wind output was recorded on December 30.
This positive trend was reflected in the latest report from energy market analyst EnAppSys. The report said that renewable output totalled 119.5TWh in 2022, the highest on record over the last decade, due primarily to high wind levels.
As Britain continues its drive to green up its electricity supply, the challenge is to integrate more renewable energy into the grid. Currently insufficient capacity in the electrical infrastructure is causing constraints and energy professionals are trying to work out how to build more infrastructure capacity cost-effectively. The alternative is to use the current infrastructure more efficiently and that’s where active network management (ANM) comes in. ANM is a technique employed by Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) to facilitate the connection of generation assets to distribution networks. This is achieved by using available capacity when available on electrical networks and managing constraints in real time in order to defer or avoid reinforcement or replacement of existing infrastructure assets.
ANM is typically used by grid companies to control energy generation schemes, so they can avoid the cost of upgrading the network. ANM reduces the connection price for customers, but on the other side of the coin, generators may have their output capped at times when the grid is at capacity.
So, how does ANM work in practice? If there’s an expected increase in power generation above the level the infrastructure can handle, DNOs use ANM to prevent additional power being exported onto the grid network. Essentially, this stops too much power being put onto the grid network at any one time, and therefore alleviates the possibility of outages or system faults.
This is particularly important as the UK electricity market is changing to a more decentralised model, driven by deregulation and increased renewable generation.
Ideally, this will result in reduced costs, improved security of supply and reduced CO₂ emissions as the system evolves. This new market offers significant opportunities where energy providers, investors and consumers can realise lower bills and increased profits by deploying new energy assets and optimising the existing energy system.
Technology plays a vital role in the deployment of ANM. Encora Energy manages clients’ assets with ANM by using the CHiPCoB control system. This is an inexpensive, secure control interface aimed at allowing energy suppliers/users to actively control assets within commercial and industrial scenarios to maximise energy value and costs. CHiPCoB is certified for ANM use by UK Power Networks, a distribution network operator for electricity covering South East England, the East of England and London.
For more information, visit https://www.encora.energy/
