Policy Background
The background to this project is energy policy within the United Kingdom. However, this project may also be applicable in other countries with similar demands on their electricity systems.
The UK energy system faces competing demands: - balancing security of supply - environmental considerations - and the need to find the most cost-effective approach to achieve these aims. [1] To address these issues, the United Kingdom Government brought about the policy measure: the Electricity Market Reform (EMR) [2]. Here are some informative links about this measure. There are two main parts to this policy:
The part of this policy of interest to the current project, is the latter, the Capacity Market.Cliquer ici pour modifier.
The Capacity Market
“Capacity Market will ensure security of electricity supply
by providing a payment for reliable sources of capacity.” DECC elaborates:
“Part of the government’s Electricity Market Reform package, the Capacity Market will ensure security of electricity supply by providing a payment for reliable sources of capacity, alongside their electricity revenues, to ensure they deliver energy when needed. This will encourage the investment we need to replace older power stations and provide backup for more intermittent and inflexible low carbon generation sources.” [4]
The need for Peak Power Plant
Demand for electricity is not constant, in fact, it varies during the day and from day to day. An example of a demand profile for part of December 2015 (first 12 days) is shown below.
One mechanism the UK grid has to ensure demand is met all times, including at times of a sudden increase in demand, is to call on additional sources of generation. This is not new. Additional generation which can respond very quickly (within a few minutes), and may only be needed for a short period of time, such as a few minutes to a couple of hours, is known as peak power plant. The CM is a measure to ensure peak power plants will be available when needed [6]: peak power plants are paid for being on stand-by, ready to generate. Peak power plants receive additional income when called on to generate and sell electricity. [4] The penetration of renewable energy into the UK generation mix has increased in recent years [7] partly as a result of the Contracts for Difference part of the EMR (see above), which gives financial incentives for such generation to be built [3]. This trend is expected to continue. As much of the UK’s renewable and low carbon generation is inflexible and intermittent, the need for peak power plants, and storage in general, is expected to increase [1]. [1] House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee. (2015). The Resilience of the UK Electricity System. Available: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201415/ldselect/ldsctech/121/12104.htm#a8
[2] DECC. (2011). Planning our electric future: a white paper for secure, affordable and low-carbon energy. Available: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/planning-our-electric-future-a-white-paper-for-secure-affordable-and-low-carbon-energyAvailable: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/48129/2176-emr-white-paper.pdf [3] DECC. (2015). Electricity Market Reform: Contracts for Difference. Available: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/electricity-market-reform-contracts-for-difference [4] DECC. (First published 2014. Last updated 2016.). Electricity Market Reform: Capacity Market. Available: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/electricity-market-reform-capacity-market [5] DECC. Department of Energy and Climate Change. Available: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-energy-climate-change [6] DECC. (2016). Securing the UK's electricity supply. Available: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/securing-the-uks-electricity-supply [7] DECCC / DUKES. (2015). Digest of UK Energy Statisitics 2014/2015. Chapter 6: Renewable sources of energy. Available: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/450298/DUKES_2015_Chapter_6.pdf |
H3P PROJECT - Modular Peak Power Plant
