Introduction: As volumes of wind generation and other low inertia plant increases on the GB system, and the proportion of predictable and flexible generation decreases, the challenge of maintaining system stability and power quality become greater; in particular frequency control and voltage management.

Various options are potentially available for maintaining stability/power quality in the future ranging from demand side participation from individual consumer appliances to running thermal plant as spinning reserve.

All options are coupled with social, economic or environmental compromises, and range considerably in terms of technology readiness.

The LCNF project aims to demonstrate, to the point of readiness to fully implement, an additional option for frequency control and voltage management that makes use of existing distribution assets

Objectives: Electricity Northwest has approached National Grid with a proposal to test the novel use of distribution equipment for providing additional power quality management options as part of Low Carbon Network Fund submission.

The aim of this project is to provide upfront technical input to the preparation of a Low Carbon Network Fund (LCNF) bid to ensure that the scope of the full project adequately addresses National Grid’s requirements relating to communication protocols, reliability and network implications such that National Grid has confidence in the wider deployment of these techniques across all distribution networks and can robustly compare them to alternative methods of managing power quality.