e-news for power industry leaders
In the Loop is an email based "e-news update" aimed at senior industry leaders. It is a quarterly publication which saw the first release in June 2014.
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Cigre Australia
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CIGRE by Numbers
CIGRE Australia membership continues to grow as does our technical contribution to regional as well as global working groups, study committees and task forces. This article presents a short summary of our membership and some statistics. more >
Task Force TFB4.77 “AC Fault response options for VSC HVDC Converters”
A recently formed CIGRE Task Force TFB4.77 “AC Fault response options for VSC HVDC Converters”, chaired by John Gleadow from New Zealand, held its first meeting late last year in Manchester, UK. This is an important Task Force for Australia, as it is investigating the challenges faced by AC grids with little or no synchronous generation.
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2018 Events and Seminars
During 2018 we have several events and seminars planned, including the 2018 Biennial Session 47 in Paris during August. more >
WG B2.56 – Ground Potential Rise at Overhead AC Transmission Line Structures During Power Frequency Faults
As we know, transmission lines are often located close to areas of public access. Public and worker safety is always top priority in the operation of transmission overhead lines and effective grounding of each line structure is necessary to provide safety, proper protection operation and acceptable lightning performance. Working Group B2.56 has examined the issues related to ground potential rise (GPR) on overhead transmission lines during power frequency faults and has recently produced Technical Brochure 694 to:
• Raise awareness of potential safety risks associated with Ground (Earth) Potential Rise (GPR) for overhead lines;
• Promote a safe operating environment near line structures during power frequency faults and;
• Aid understanding of the strategic design approach associated with line grounding problems and available solutions for power frequency line faults.
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CIGRE - A 2017 Technical Overview
With the start of a new year it seems appropriate to review the current status of CIGRE, its key areas of focus and how the individual Study Committees are addressing the strategic technical challenges that the power system is facing. This article draws on the presentations by the International Chairman of Study Committee B3 and all the Australian Panel Convenors which were made at the Forum run by the Australian Technical Committee in November 2017, the day before last year’s AGM in Adelaide. more >
Using markets and regulatory frameworks to ensure timely investment in transmission
New Technical Brochure reviews how utilities across the world use markets and regulatory frameworks to ensure timely investment in transmission.
Working Group C5.18 has produced Technical Brochure 692, ‘Market price signals and regulatory frameworks for coordination of transmission investments'. The Australian member on the working group was Joel Gilmore. This should be of general interest to our members as there is growing concern in Australia about system security balanced against rapidly rising prices, and timely transmission investments play a critical role here. While some may argue that increasing distributed generation and lower cost storage may reduce the need for transmission, the current evidence is that, while its role and function will evolve over time, transmission will continue to be critical for the foreseeable future. This changing role does make the timing and nature of the transmission investment more difficult to justify with valid market signals and appropriate regulatory frameworks becoming even more important.
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Wide Area Protection and Control Systems used to improve system reliability and security.
Cigre Technical Brochure provides timely overview of Wide Area Protection and Control Systems used to improve system reliability and security.
As power grids world-wide become more complex (renewable energy integration, energy efficiency, electrical vehicles, storage, etc.) and are being operated closer to their operating limits, the application of Wide Area Protection & Control Systems (WAPCS) has become necessary to better manage the grid, prevent blackouts and ensure security of power supply. Technical Brochure 664 has recently been produced by Cigre Working Group B5.14 as a useful reference document on the current status of the technology, its benefits and challenges and a way forward to speed up deployment and minimise costs. The Australian member on this working group was Chuanli Zhang
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Meeting Reliability Standards whilst complying with Market Rules
Compliance with reliability standards has been an obligation on power system planners and operators for many years. More recently the requirement to also satisfy market rules, which are driven by commercial objectives has created challenges for System Operators. Working Group C2/C5.05 has recently produced Technical Brochure 688, ‘Development of Reliability Standards and Market Rules’. The Australian member on this working group is Mark Miller. For this first stage of a 2-stage project, a review of historical, current and future development of reliability standards and market rules in several countries has been completed. The second stage will examine the current and developing challenges associated with the adverse impacts on market mechanisms when trying to comply with reliability standards. This will include consideration of the impact of new technologies such as intermittent renewables, storage etc. This work is very topical in Australia and many other countries and should be of considerable interest to stakeholders. more >
Upcoming events and meetings
CIGRE Australia has several upcoming events and meetings that may be of interest.
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Dublin Symposium - 'Experiencing the Future Power system today'
Some commentators are predicting that within the next 10 or so years, Australia will have one of the highest penetrations of intermittent renewable generation in the world. South Australia already has the second highest per capita penetration of combined wind and solar so this is clearly a possible scenario. The Symposium in Dublin on ‘Experiencing the Future Power System Today’ could therefore not have been timelier. This is particularly so considering the ambitions of Ireland to source 40 percent of its electricity from renewables by 2020 and for wind generation to provide the majority of this. Ireland is a small system with demand varying from 2GW to 7GW and limited support from 1GW of interconnection with Great Britain. It provides a great case study to examine the challenges of a rapid change to the generation mix.
A key aspect of the Symposium related to the technical and market impacts of high penetrations of wind and solar. A range of emerging new technologies and methods to manage these challenges were raised in papers and discussed in the various sessions.
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