Test with Ignitis and Kaunas HPP
A joint control test of the Kaunas Hydroelectric Power Plant (KHPP) and an experimental 1 MW battery by Lithuanian transmission system operator Litgrid, Ignitis Production and the Lithuanian Energy Institute has shown that, working together, these different technologies could enable the plant to provide balancing services.
According to Rimgaudas Kalvaitis, Head of Ignitis Production, by combining these two technologies through advanced control and exploiting their technological potential, we can increase the flexibility of the system's generation and ensure standard-compliant operation of the generation units, which is important for the integration of renewable energy sources and for the provision of additional balancing services.
"This study has shown how the coordinated management of different technologies can ensure smooth power regulation during normal and emergency modes of operation of the system and increase the resilience of our system to disturbances by exploiting the potential of different technologies. At the same time, it makes our power system more advanced and innovative", says Rimgaudas Kalvaitis.
According to Litgrid's Director of Strategy, Liutauros Varanavičius, batteries have a lot of potential for businesses to use for their own needs and for the country to achieve energy independence.
"When we opened our experimental battery with a capacity of 1 MW and 1 MWh to science and business in May this year, we received a lot of interest. During the test with Ignitis Production, we sent remote commands from Litgrid's dispatching center to change the battery's power. This simulated the operation of the battery and the Ignitis Generation KHE generators in the event of frequency changes in the system. Batteries are not only capable of storing energy, but also of instantly feeding it into the grid and controlling the frequency. These are very important features for high system reliability," says Varanavičius, recalling that in spring this year Litgrid's project - the first 1 MW battery connected to the grid in the Baltic States - triumphed at The Smarter E Award, Europe's largest renewable energy awards.
Working together for better electricity quality
"The pilot project and the study involved business and research organisations working together, and is a great example of how combining different competences and technologies, can create synergies that can benefit Lithuania's energy sector by increasing its efficiency. In the future, we expect that the number of initiatives that will contribute to technological progress and innovation and to the sustainable development of Lithuania's electricity sector, rapidly integrating renewable energy sources and becoming an advanced part of the continental European grid, will only increase," says Dr. Virginijus Radziukynas, Head of the Smart Grids and Renewable Energy Laboratory at the Lithuanian Energy Institute.
The test was aimed at proving that the combined operation of the hydro-power generators and the battery ensures standard technical requirements and extends the possibilities of using different technologies to ensure power quality and reliability in the system. The test involved the coordinated control of the KHE unit and the storage power using different technologies. Changes in the frequency response of the main power system were simulated and the matched power control of the pumped storage unit and the battery was carried out, whereby the use of battery power compensated for the missing power demand of the slower pumped storage unit in response to the frequency change.
Hydro units, whose speed is limited by the hydromechanical characteristics of the equipment, are relatively slower, whereas battery systems can react quickly to disturbances in the system to compensate for the slower hydro unit and to generate the missing power.
