Electricity demand as frequency controlled reserve – Implementation and practical demonstration

As the amounts of electricity production from renewable energies increase in the electricity system, ancillary system services are getting greater attention. These services ensure the energy balance in the power system and have traditionally been delivered by central power stations. However, restructuring the power system requires new solutions and activation of alternative resources.

Electricity consumption is disconnected

One of the important ancillary services is frequency control, which reacts fast to frequency deviations, which are a sign of imbalance between consumption and production in the power system. In 2008 Ea Energy Analyses participated in a theoretical project on “electricity demand as frequency controlled reserve” in corporation with the Centre for Electric Technology (CET) at the Technical University of Denmark. The project found good possibilities of incorporating the demand side as frequency controlled reserve. This can be achieved by disconnecting or connecting electricity consumption for a short period of time.

Practial experiments

Together with the Centre for Electric Technology (CET) at the Technical University of Denmark, Østkraft, Danfoss and Vestfrost, Ea Energy Analyses participated in the project “Electricity demand as frequency controlled reserve – Implementation and practical demonstration”, which was financed by the EUDP 89 programme. The project was a three-year research project, carried out in the period from 2009 to 2012. The aim was to demonstrate the practical implementation of demand as frequency controlled reserve:

• 200 units for demand as frequency controlled reserve were installed on the island of Bornholm, both at private households and larger electricity consumers.
• Different algorithms and technologies were tested
• The practical implementation was monitored closely, both with respect to the technical aspects and user experience

Publications connected to the project

• Xu, Z., J. Østergaard, M. Togeby (2011): Demand as Frequency Controlled Reserve. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems — 2011, Volume 26, Issue 3, pp. 1062-1071.
• Douglass, P.J., R. Garcia-Valle, P. Nyeng, J. Østergaard, and M. Togeby (2011): Demand as Frequency Controlled Reserve: Implementation and practical demonstration. Proceedings of IEEE PES ISGT 2011 Europe — The second European conference and exhibition on Innovative Smart Grid Technologies, 2011.
• Xu, Z., J. Østergaard, M. Togeby (2011): Demand as Frequency Controlled Reserve. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, Vol 26, Issue 3, pp.1062-1071.
• Nyeng, P., J. Østergaard, M. Togeby and J. Hethey (2010): Design and Implementation of Frequency-responsive Thermostat Control. 45th International Universities’ Power Engineering Conference (UPEC 2010), Cardiff, Wales, UK.