Energy - Stabilisation of power grids

 

Grids have been in use for more than 120 years, but their fundamental problem is still their very limited ability to store electricity. In practice, this means that the volume of electricity generated must match the volume of actual consumption as closely as possible.

 

Once the balance between consumption and production is disturbed, overproduction results in overvoltage and overconsumption in undervoltage. However, the result in both cases can be a grid failure. These undesirable conditions have so far been very successfully mitigated in national grids, for example by means of pumped storage plants, which are very expensive to build.

 

The Czech Republic has committed itself by adopting the European Directive 2009/28/EC that 13% of its total electricity consumption will be covered by RES by 2020, and the EU-wide target is 20% by 2020. It follows that the share of energy from RES will increase.

 

However, as the share of RES generation increases, a number of decentralised energy sources are being integrated into the existing transmission system. Thus, the reality is and will be a mismatch between current demand and instantaneous electricity generation, influenced by the integration of RES energy sources dependent on climatic conditions. The unpredictability of their energy production volumes will place increasing demands on grid stabilisation in the future.

 

At the same time, emphasis should also be placed on ensuring that all the energy produced is used and that surplus energy is stored and used efficiently during peak periods or when RES energy production is reduced due to climatic conditions.

 

Magna Energy Storage products offer a solution to stabilise the grid by building storage containers with selectable capacities, made of high-capacity batteries with a capacity of 50kWh. The undeniable advantages are the cost of the solution (not comparable, for example, to the use of pumped storage plants), high safety, non-flammability, simple BMS and reliability.

Energy storage with adequate capacity should be an integral part of all wind farms and PV plants in the future, which in itself would greatly reduce the undesirable impact of RES on the grid.