XFLEX HYDRO demonstrators grid services assessment and Ancillary Services Matrix elaboration

TL;DR

This paper develops a methodology to assess and quantify the ability of six hydro demonstrators to provide various grid ancillary services using advanced technologies, summarized in an Ancillary Service Matrix.

Contribution

It introduces a systematic simulation-based approach to evaluate and visualize the ancillary service capabilities of hydro technologies in different demonstrators.

Findings

Quantified active power response for each demonstrator and technology.

Created the Ancillary Service Matrix to summarize service capabilities.

Highlighted benefits of advanced hydro technologies for grid support.

Abstract

This paper presents the methodology and key results which enabled to establish the so-called Ancillary Service Matrix (ASM) presenting the ability to deliver the different ancillary services of each of the 6 demonstrators of the XFLEX HYDRO research project combined with the applicable technologies studied in this analysis. These technologies include i) the variable speed technology with Doubly Fed Induction Machine (DFIM) or Full Size Frequency Converters (FSFC), ii) the Smart Power Plant Supervisor (SPPS) enabling to extend the operating range of the hydraulic units in turbine mode based on a better knowledge of the hydro unit wear and tear and associated costs over the full unit operating range, iii) the hydraulic short circuit (HSC) operation leading to simultaneous operation of pump and turbines of Pumped Storage Power Plants (PSPP) and iv) the Hydro-Battery-Hybrid (HBH) applied at Run-of-River demonstrator. The demonstrators considered for this study includes 4 pumped storage power plants, 1 conventional hydro storage plant and 1 run-of-the-river plant. For each demonstrator a 1D simulation model was developed and validated and was further enhanced to include the model of control system enabling to address the various ancillary services. The systematic 1D numerical simulation of ancillary service contribution of each demonstrator and related technologies enabled to quantify the magnitude of active power response to contribute to the different grid services. The results have been scored between 0 and 5 for each ancillary service, allowing to populate the Ancillary Service Matrix which is summarizing the results in a graphical and synthetic way. The analysis of the score of the Ancillary Services Matrix enables the reader to draw several key conclusions about the benefits unlocked by the implementation of these technologies which are summarized in the paper.