Regional super power grids face political obstacles

Significance Its proponents argue that interconnecting the world’s power grids would make it easier for renewable energy, however remotely it is generated, to replace most fossil fuels in electricity generation. Implementation remains a distant, and politically fraught, possibility but regional super-grids look increasingly feasible and could boost the submarine cable industry. Impacts Load-balancing on a global scale could reduce peak load generation needs by an estimated 5-10%, saving billions in investment. Power grids require estimated investment of USD14tn by 2050, nearly as much as projected spending on new renewables capacity. International rules on carbon pricing and taxing would be a prerequisite for a global power grid.

Advantages of Applying Large-Scale Energy Storage for Load-Generation Balancing

The continuous development of energy storage (ES) technologies and their wider utilization in modern power systems are becoming more and more visible. ES is used for a variety of applications ranging from price arbitrage, voltage and frequency regulation, reserves provision, black-starting and renewable energy sources (RESs), supporting load-generation balancing. The cost of ES technologies remains high; nevertheless, future decreases are expected. As the most profitable and technically effective solutions are continuously sought, this article presents the results of the analyses which through the created unit commitment and dispatch optimization model examines the use of ES as support for load-generation balancing. The performed simulations based on various scenarios show a possibility to reduce the number of starting-up centrally dispatched generating units (CDGUs) required to satisfy the electricity demand, which results in the facilitation of load-generation balancing for transmission system operators (TSOs). The barriers that should be encountered to improving the proposed use of ES were also identified. The presented solution may be suitable for further development of renewables and, in light of strict climate and energy policies, may lead to lower utilization of large-scale power generating units required to maintain proper operation of power systems.

End-to-End Deep Graph Convolutional Neural Network Approach for Intentional Islanding in Power Systems Considering Load-Generation Balance

Intentional islanding is a corrective procedure that aims to protect the stability of the power system during an emergency, by dividing the grid into several partitions and isolating the elements that would cause cascading failures. This paper proposes a deep learning method to solve the problem of intentional islanding in an end-to-end manner. Two types of loss functions are examined for the graph partitioning task, and a loss function is added on the deep learning model, aiming to minimise the load-generation imbalance in the formed islands. In addition, the proposed solution incorporates a technique for merging the independent buses to their nearest neighbour in case there are isolated buses after the clusterisation, improving the final result in cases of large and complex systems. Several experiments demonstrate that the introduced deep learning method provides effective clustering results for intentional islanding, managing to keep the power imbalance low and creating stable islands. Finally, the proposed method is dynamic, relying on real-time system conditions to calculate the result.

Modeling the process of force load generation at the initial periodic change in pressure (a plane problem)

The article deals with modeling the process of force load generation at an initial periodic change in pressure (a plane problem). The subject of research is a pulsating flow in a flat channel at an initial periodic pressure change. The determination of flow parameters with a periodic change in the inlet pressure; the changes in the structure of the working fluid associated with the release of various particles from the pipe walls, the addition of impurities to prevent leaks, and the high-speed modes, are given in the article considering the law of molecular and molar transfer between layers. Research methods are based on Newton’s rheological law, according to which molecular transfer is described by the law of proportionality of stresses to the derivative of the normal velocity; on the method of accounting for molar transfer by proportionality of stresses to the derivative of normal acceleration; on the method of mathematical modeling and the analytical method for their solutions, based on the provisions of operational calculus. An analytical solution to the problem of pulsating fluid motion in a plane-parallel channel is obtained with allowance for single and group transfer of molecules in the flow. The application of the analytical expressions obtained for the velocities is not limited to the critical Reynolds number, i.e. they are applied for any values of this number. Analytical expressions are obtained for the transverse and longitudinal components of the flow velocity. The resulting solution describes two zones of flow: in the first zone, two types of transfer occur, depending on the flow pattern, either molecular or molar transfer of fluid volumes between the layers prevails. In the second zone, only molecular transfer occurs.