The current grid cannot deliver on net zero
The grid is the hidden opportunity to achieving net zero few people talk about. The current grid simply cannot handle the volume of new renewable energy and the growing demand for full electrification. It is a bottleneck of 100-year-old, siloed technology – technology operating at the mechanical level of a typewriter – when we could harness the power of digital technology, like the internet. At Smart Wires we see the transition to the digital grid as one of the most critical challenges of the 21st century – one that will impact generations to come, and one that we are determined to solve.
Game-changing digital technology
SmartValve is a digital power flow control technology that quickly solves bottlenecks and grid issues to create extra capacity. It is a patented, award-winning, single-phase, modular-SSSC that injects a voltage in quadrature with the line current to synthesize a capacitive (- Ωs) or inductive (+ Ωs) reactance. This means it can push power off overloaded lines or pull power onto underutilized lines. SmartValve also provides dynamic services including improving voltage stability and transient stability. Unlike physical series capacitors or inductors, the injected voltage can be controlled independently of the line current, allowing the series reactance produced by the device to be varied in real-time.
Transition to software and silicon
SmartValve is a ground-breaking development for power flow control technology. Harnessing the power of silicon and software, it paves the way forward for series–connected FACTS (Flexible Alternating
Current Transmission Systems) by providing a modular, digital, and future-proofed technology.
Distinct from legacy technologies based on copper and steel, SmartValve leverages a modular, transformerless approach, sealed forced air cooling, integrated fast–acting bypass, and deployment flexibility to deliver greater solution value. This move towards a modular, digital offering eliminates many disadvantages of previous devices, providing a flexible and scalable technology with high reliability, faster delivery and installation, with multiple network applications.
The SmartValve difference
- Multiple network applications including power flow control and dynamic services
- Transformerless device that employs VSC technology
- Integrated fast-acting bypass
- Voltage agnostic
- Modular design enables flexible, scalable and movable deployments
- High reliability and redundancy
- Built for rapid delivery and deployment
- No single point of failure
- Automated and manual control modes available
- Short-term and long-term solution
Solving critical grid challenges
Solve grid bottlenecks to quickly and cost-effectively create capacity that is available on the existing grid
Enable faster and more cost-effective connection of new renewable generation by increasing network generator connection capacity. Supply new demand more efficiently as society moves towards wide-scale electrification
Facilitate extended outage windows and accelerate construction of new facilities or rebuilding of existing facilities (e.g. voltage uprates) to deliver projects on time and on budget
Enable increased interregional power transfer across seams or borders to provide greater access to clean affordable electricity and reduce price differentials between bidding zones
Increase gross margin and reduce curtailment of renewable generation/uneconomic dispatch to reduce cost of energy for end consumers
Reduce or defer capital investment decisions until more certainty on future system needs, and retain flexibility to adapt or relocate SmartValves dependent on how the system needs evolve over time
Global projects delivering huge impact today
Accelerating wind energy integration
- SmartValves installed at 275 kV and 400 kV
- Reduce grid congestion across network boundaries
- Multiple distributed deployments across five circuits
- 5 GW capacity unlocked across three boundaries
- £387 M savings for consumers due to reduction in constraint costs
Increasing transfer capacity between states
- SmartValves installed at 330 kV
- Reduces congestion on interconnector
- Avoided need to build new line or upgrade existing line
- Deployments at two substations work in tandem, one installation in PULL mode and the other in PUSH mode
- 170 MW of additional capacity on interconnector
- AUD $268 M savings for consumers due to more renewable energy flowing between states
Improving the supply of electricity in Latin America
- SmartValves installed at 220 kV
- Alleviates inter-regional congestion and improves reliability of supply
- Reduces need for new infrastructure
- 252 MW of new capacity for generation
- Significant consumer savings
- Improves reliability of supply and supports economic development in region
Bringing your grid to the future
Powerful synergies exist when SmartValve is combined with our analytics and advisory services, and dynamic line rating software SUMO. With this suite of grid enhancing technologies, we combine the power of modelling, analytics, dynamic ratings, and digital power flow control to help grid operators meet the demands of renewable energy adoption and demand-side electrification across the world.