Distribution Network Review
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A DISTRIBUTION NETWORK REVIEW ETSU K/EL/00188/REP Contractor P B Power Merz & McLellan Division PREPARED BY R J Fairbairn D Maunder P Kenyon The work described in this report was carried out under contract as part of the New and Renewable Energy Programme, managed by the Energy Technology Support Unit (ETSU) on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry. The views and judgements expressed in this report are those of the contractor and do not necessarily reflect those of ETSU or the Department of Trade and Industry.__________ First published 1999 © Crown copyright 1999 Page iii 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.........................................................................................................................1.1 2. INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................2.1 3. BACKGROUND.........................................................................................................................................3.1 3.1 Description of the existing electricity supply system in England , Scotland and Wales ...3.1 3.2 Summary of PES Licence conditions relating to the connection of embedded generation 3.5 3.3 Summary of conditions required to be met by an embedded generator .................................3.10 3.4 The effect of the Review of Electricity Trading Arrangements (RETA)..............................3.11 4. THE ABILITY OF THE UK DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS TO ACCEPT EMBEDDED GENERATION...................................................................................................................................................4.1 4.1 The ability of distribution systems to accept embedded generation ........................................ 4.1 4.2 N orthern Scotland - Scottish and Southern Energy ...................................................................4.4 4.3 Central and Southern Scotland - Scottish Power ...................................................................... 4.12 4.4 N orth East England - N orthern Electric...................................................................................... 4.16 4.5 N orth West England - N orweb ...........................................................................................................4.20 4.6 Merseyside and N orth Wales - Manweb ..........................................................................................4.24 4.7 Y orkshire and Humberside - Y orkshire Electricity.................................................................... 4.29 4.8 West Midlands - Midlands Electricity............................................................................................4.33 4.9 East Midlands - East Midlands Electricity................................................................................... 4.36 4.10 N orfolk and East Anglia - Eastern Electricity............................................................................4.40 4.11 Central London - London Electricity.............................................................................................4.43 4.12 South East England - SEEBOARD ..................................................................................................... 4.45 4.13 Southern England - Southern Electric...........................................................................................4.49 4.14 South Wales - SWALEC.........................................................................................................................4.51 4.15 South West England - SWEB...............................................................................................................4.55 5. TECHNICAL BENEFITS/DRAWBACKS ARISING FROM EMBEDDED GENERATION...........5.1 5.1 U tilisation of distribution network assets ...................................................................................... 5.1 5.2 Distribution System Losses and O verall System Efficiency ....................................................... 5.2 5.3 Security and quality of supply.............................................................................................................5.5 5.4 N eed for distribution reinforcement ................................................................................................. 5.7 5.5 Avoidance or deferment of distribution reinforcement ..............................................................5.8 5.6 System control , load balance and safety ........................................................................................5.8 5.7 Implications for NGC ............................................................................................................................... 5.9 6. POTENTIAL FOR UPTAKE OF EMBEDDED GENERATION TECHNOLOGIES........................6.1 6.1 The Projected N ear -term U ptake of Renewable Energy Projects in England , Scotland and Wales 6.1 6.2 The Projected N ear -term U ptake of Embedded Fossil -fuelled Projects in England Scotland and Wales ...........................................................................................................................................6.14 7. COMPARISON OF DISTRIBUTION NETWORK CAPACITY WITH POTENTIAL UPTAKE ...7.1 8. POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS TO OVERCOME OBSTACLES.................................................................. 8.1 8.1 Voltage regulation 8.1 Page iii 8.2 Thermal Loading .......................................................................................................................................8.3 8.3 FAULT LEVELS................................................................................................................................................ 8.4 8.4 OTHER ISSUES................................................................................................................................................ 8.5 9. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................. 9.1 9.1 Existing distribution systems.............................................................................................................. 9.1 9.2 E xisting levels of embedded generation ............................................................................................9.1 9.3 Potential benefits /drawbacks for the connection of embedded generation ......................... 9.2 9.4 Experience of PES Companies dealing with embedded generation .............................................9.4 9.5 The effect of the Review of Electricity Trading Arrangements (RETA)................................9.4 9.6 Potential growth of embedded generation ...................................................................................... 9.5 9.7 Fossil Fuelled Projects ...........................................................................................................................9.6 9.8 Comparison of network capacity with Potential uptake of embedded generation ...............9.6 9.9 Potential Solutions to difficulties experienced with Embedded generation ......................... 9.7 9.10 Recommendations ......................................................................................................................................9.9 Appendix A Scope of work Appendix B Assessment of capability of PES networks to accept new embedded generation Appendix C Questionnaire responses from Industry Stakeholders Page 1.1 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report covers the work undertaken by PB Power, Merz and McLellan Division, on behalf of ETSU, as part of the United Kingdom’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) New and Renewable Energy Programme. The objective of the study is to review the distribution network in England, Wales and Scotland to examine its ability now and in the near future to accommodate more embedded generation, taking account of both renewable and conventional types of generation. For the basis of these studies we have considered generators with a registered capacity of less than 100 MW. The studies described in this report were performed in late 1998 and early 1999 and they involved soliciting the views of numerous organisations, including the 14 Public Electricity Supply companies, the Electricity Regulator (OFFER), key policy makers and industry stakeholders. As a background to the studies we have included a general description of the existing transmission and distribution systems in the United Kingdom. This description includes a brief history of how the networks were developed from discrete, isolated power systems with localised generators that served a number of specific consumers, to an interconnected network that enabled generation to supply demands in other parts of the country. As part of this background information we include a summary of the conditions stipulated in the Public Electricity Supply licences granted under the Electricity Act 1989 that are relevant to the developers of embedded generation schemes. We also include a summary of the agreements and consents that an embedded generator must obtain in order to connect to, and operate on, a distribution system. This background information is included in Section 3 of this report where we also include a brief description and commentary on the Review of Electricity Trading Arrangements that are presently being performed by OFFER. In Section 4 we present the results of our discussions with the Public Electricity Supply companies together with some analysis based on these discussions. The aim of this analysis is to identify on a