n ten short years, the global en-

ergy landscape has changed pro-

foundly. Continued international

focus on climate change and its im-

pacts has seen the march towards

the energy transition intensify. Cou-

ple this with positive regulation and

policy changes across the world,

growth in renewables, and further

development of innovative technol-

ogy, and thankfully we are now on

an unstoppable trajectory which will

see several major nations reach net

zero by 2050. As the energy transi-

tion gathers pace, the question has

changed from “when” will it be

achieved, to “how”.

The increased adoption of innova-

tive, grid enhancing technologies

(GETs) will be key to meeting the

commitments and targets laid out by

the Paris Agreement in 2015.

Generating ‘green electrons’, or re-

newable energy, is of course a core

component of the energy transition,

but so is the ability to move clean

energy effectively and efciently

from source to demand – meaning

the grid, or electricity network, must

be an enabler rather than a barrier.

The current grid was designed for

large-scale, centralised fossil fuel

power generation, not intermittent

renewable generation of varying-size

and distribution. Energy generation

and demand patterns are shifting,

and so too must the grid. In order to

unlock the energy transition, the grid

must operate differently. The good

news is that there is actually a fair bit

of exibility and capacity that can be

extracted from today’s grid.

Grid enhancing technologies, such

as power ow control, dynamic line

rating, topology optimisation and

others, are poised to be absolutely

critical in transforming the existing

grid, and in doing so, unlocking and

maximising its capacity.

A recent Brattle Group report

found that grid enhancing technolo-

gies can allow more than double the

volume of renewable generators to

connect to the grid – compared to the

status quo approach – over the next

ve years. These investments could

be implemented in less than one year

and would pay for themselves in six

months.

Modular Power Flow Control

(MPFC) is one such technology that

is gaining huge global traction.

Smart Wires has developed a MPFC

technology, known as SmartValve,

which is the next logical step in the

progression of FACTS (Flexible

Alternating Current Transmission

System). It enables system operators

to control power ows in the net-

work by adjusting transmission line

reactance in real-time. Essentially,

this intelligent hardware causes

power to be pushed off overloaded

lines or pulled onto under-utilised

lines – causing power to ow where

there is spare capacity, and maximis-

ing the full use of the grid.

As the ow of renewable energy

increases, the MPFC technology can

automatically activate to balance

power ows, boosting the amount of

energy the grid can transfer.

This is essential to enabling signi-

cantly larger amounts of renewable

energy to enter the system, and im-

portantly reduces the need for new

transmission lines – maximising the

use of what is already there.

As distinct from legacy forms of

power ow control, SmartValve is a

modular, digital solution which

means it is quick and exible to in-

stall and easy to scale or relocate.

This exibility and adaptability is in-

credibly valuable when generation,

load, and the evolution of the grid it-

self are highly uncertain.

Greece’s Independent Power Trans-

mission Operator (IPTO) deployed

MPFC in a containerised mobile unit

parked inside a substation, to accel-

erate renewable integration in a rela-

tively constrained portion of the grid.

IPTO installed the mobile MPFC

technology on one of two 150 kV

parallel single-circuit overhead lines,

to increase the lines impedance – re-

ducing loading on this particular line

by 17 per cent.

A key benet of the mobile MPFC

is to resolve short-term or near-term

issues. In this case, the mobile

MPFC provided a short-term solu-

tion until a new line came into ser-

vice. This rapidly deployable and re-

deployable solution is also often

used for managing operational con-

straints, such as enabling outage

windows for critical construction and

maintenance works.

Historically, it takes years to get

transmission projects completed,

even simple ones. The mobile MPFC

solution can be delivered in a few

months and installed within a matter

of days, allowing utilities to respond

much faster to the needs of genera-

tors, customers and communities. As

it is mobile, it is fully re-deployable

and can be reused many times at dif-

ferent voltage levels across the grid.

After several months on the Greek

system, the unit was moved to the

Bulgarian transmission system,

where it is also being leveraged to

improve renewable integration and

cross-border electricity ows. Instal-

lation of the technology, which took

just 2.5 days, was a joint project be-

tween the Bulgarian Transmission

System Operator (TSO), Electricity

System Operator (ESO), and Smart

Wires, as part of FLEXITRANS-

TORE – a European Union Horizon

2020 consortium. The mobile power

ow control solution was installed in

northeast Bulgaria, where 750 MW

of wind generation is installed.

In the UK, a substation-based de-

ployment of Smart Wires’ MPFC

freed up 95 MW of additional net-

work capacity by installing the tech-

nology on two lines within the UK

Power Networks distribution system.

This work resolved a critical pinch

point near the Essex/Suffolk border

and allowed more electricity generat-

ed from renewable sources to feed

into the system – without building

costly and disruptive new electrical

cabling and substations.

In just a year, UK Power Networks

saved customers £8 million, and en-

abled enough renewable power to

run 45 000 homes to safely connect

to a previously constrained point in

the local electricity network.

Further north in the UK, National

Grid (NGET) recently deployed the

world’s rst large-scale use of the

technology, enabling an extra 1.5

GW extra capacity on its existing

network.

NGET is installing SmartValve on

ve circuits at three of its substations

in the North of England, which

makes 500 MW of new network ca-

pacity available in each region. The

sites, at Harker in Carlisle, Pen-

wortham in Preston and Saltholme in

Stockton-on-Tees near Middles-

brough, were identied as needing a

solution to solve bottlenecks of

north-to-south renewable power

ows. Installing modular power ow

controllers at these sites allows

NGET to provide National Grid’s

Electricity System Operator with the

tools to quickly reduce the conges-

tion that limits renewable generation,

with minimal impact on communi-

ties and the environment.

Following these initial installations

at the three sites, National Grid is

looking to extend the capability at

Harker and Penwortham in the Euro-

pean autumn. This could mean free-

ing up an additional 500 MW of ca-

pacity, enough to power more than

300 000 homes. The scale of this

project is unprecedented, as are the

benets to National Grid. The cost

and environmental savings involved

are immense: 1.5 GW of extra ca-

pacity is enough renewable energy to

power 1 000 000 homes, clearly sup-

porting the UK’s net zero ambitions.

Elsewhere, Slovenian Transmission

System Operator ELES and Smart

Wires are collaborating on a project

that will see ELES’ dynamic line rat-

ing (DLR) technology combine with

Smart Wires’ MPFC. The two tech-

nologies offer compelling synergies.

DLR can identify which lines have

available capacity and power ow

controllers can then intelligently

route power to those lines.

The companies anticipate a series

of collaborative ventures on different

sites. ELES’ part of the collaboration

will be managed by its recently

launched member company Operato,

focused solely on the implementa-

tion of SUMO DTR (dynamic ther-

mal rating) technology.

SUMO DTR technology cost-ef-

ciently monitors and predicts weath-

er conditions along the whole line to

calculate a transmission line’s real-

time rating. By using SUMO DTR’s

real-time ratings, transmission opera-

tors can use higher line ratings with-

out endangering safety or reliability.

Since some circuits reach their

maximum rating while others are

well below their limits, balancing

power ows can eliminate con-

straints and improve network trans-

fers, which is where Smart Wires’

MPFC comes in to push power off

lines that are overloaded or pull

power onto lines with spare capacity.

Combining these rapidly installed

and low environmental impact tech-

nologies is the next logical step in

grid innovation as our industry facili-

tates the energy transition.

Innovative, grid enhancing technol-

ogies are providing the industry with

incredibly exible and high-impact

solutions, which are ultimately deliv-

ering faster, cheaper and better ways

to plan and operate power systems.

It’s this type of holistic thinking

and a use of multi-pronged ap-

proaches that we need to accelerate

an affordable energy transition.

The transition is upon us, a critical

evolution of technology and behav-

iour, and as Charles Darwin, the

champion of evolution, so eloquently

said: It is not the strongest or the

most intelligent who will survive but

those who can best manage change.

Michael Walsh is Chief Commercial

Ofcer at Smart Wires.

THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - JULY 2021

Technology Focus

Grid enhancing

technologies are key

to the success of the

energy transition.

Smart Wires

has developed a

Modular Power Flow

Control technology,

also known as

SmartValve, that

allows power to

ow where there is

spare capacity, thus

maximising the use of

the grid.

Michael Walsh

Driving the green electron

revolution

SmartValve is a modular,

transformerless static

synchronous series

compensator, with an

integrated fast-acting bypass

and exible installation and

control. Intelligent hardware

causes power to be pushed

off overloaded lines or pulled

onto under-utilised lines

BEFORE AFTER