The UK is trialling using offshore wind to restart the electricity grid in the event of a national power outage. The trial is the latest phase of transmission operator SP Energy Networks’ flagship ‘Blade’ project, which aims to improve Britain’s energy security by giving more options to reenergise the national grid using renewable energy resources.
The three-year project will see Scotland’s two transmission companies (SP Energy Networks and SSEN Transmission) work together with wind farm operators and developers including SSE Renewables, Ørsted and the National HVDC Centre to model different 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 is a national power cut as they can restart without support from the grid, and generate electricity to send to the grid as part of a co-ordinated plan to help power up different types of generation.
However, to diversify and provide more options to the National Energy System Operator (NESO), Britain’s transmission companies are considering more ways of restarting the electricity grid.
The “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.
Eddie Mulholland, director of Processes and Technology, SP Energy Networks said: “This project will help shape the future, not just of the GB grid but electricity networks worldwide. The UK has one of the biggest offshore wind markets … and being able to harness that power to restart the grid offers the system operator more options in the event of any emergency”.
Blade will build on the success of SP Energy Networks’ and NESO’s Distributed ReStart project, demonstrating the ability to restore the electricity network from small scale distribution connected generators. It will also learn from work conducted by The Carbon Trust’s Offshore Wind Accelerator programme, who are also helping fund part of this work alongside the Strategic Innovation Fund, an Ofgem programme managed in partnership with Innovate UK.
