Prequalification for wind farms in 50Hertz grid area
- Connection of two wind farms makes control power available for the 50Hertz control area
- 89 MW wind farm pool can contribute a 60 megawatt capacity for negative minute reserve
- Important contribution of renewable energy to system security
Berlin/Essen – Today, German wind farms were able to actually participate in the balancing market for the very first time. The pool, which currently consists of two wind farms, is located in the control area of 50Hertz, the transmission system operator responsible for the north-east of Germany. The marketer of the wind power is Norwegian energy company Statkraft.
50Hertz is proud to have helped bring about this development. "The first prequalification of wind power stations for the balancing market proves that today renewable energy sources can already contribute to system security", emphasised Boris Schucht, CEO of 50Hertz. "For the future, we hope that even more ancillary services can be provided by renewable energy sources, which are taking huge steps forward in the 50Hertz control area."
"We are pleased that after long preparations, we can now put wind power stations to commercial use as minute reserve for our customers", said Stefan-Jörg Göbel, Managing Director of Statkraft Markets GmbH. "In doing so, we prove our innovative leadership for the commercial marketing of wind power."
This first prequalification is possible thanks to a pilot project by all four transmission system operators, in the scope of which criteria were jointly established for the provision of control power by wind farms.
Background on control power:
In order to maintain the standard frequency of 50 hertz in the electrical network, power consumption and generation have to be balanced at all times. Unexpected deviations between generation and consumption - caused for instance by forecast deviations for renewable energy - therefore have to be compensated by the transmission system operator by means of control power. This prevents any risk to system stability.
Control power compensates fluctuations in the electricity grid within a short time, either by providing extra power (positive control power) or reducing power (negative
control power). The German transmission system operators constantly keep some 4,000 megawatts of positive and negative control power available.
This capacity is provided on the balancing market by generation and consumption units. Control power suppliers have to prove that their installations fulfil the requirements for the performance of services - in other words, they have to pass a type of "driving test" for the balancing market.
For further information, please contact:
Kerstin Maria Rippel, T +4930-5150 3418, kerstin.rippel@50hertz.com
Press-release as PDF-File