Rotating Grid Stabilizer Conversion, Give your generator a second Life??

Synchronous Condensers help to drive the decarbonization journey for power assets. With the rising adoption of renewable energy, traditional power generation methods are utilized less, and generators are being shut down. Rotating Grid Stabilizer Conversion not only enables a rising share of renewable infeed on the grid but also provides a significantly reduced carbon footprint compared to a new build.

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How renewable energy trends affect grid stability

With the rising adoption of renewable energy, traditional power generation methods are utilized less, and generators are being shut down.

Once these?generators are shut down, their role in providing?rotational inertia, short circuit power and voltage control, to help balance the?grid system disappears?with them also. Grid stability is therefore a vital consideration for power plant operators and transmission and distribution network operators, with increasing renewable penetration.

How is grid stability maintained ?

Traditionally, grid stability is achieved through the dependence on the system strength and system inertia.

System strength?refers to the ability of the electricity grid to recover intact from major disturbances and it is provided by the?short-circuit power of the generator or?synchronous condenser.?The same generator also provides?system inertia?which is critical to maintaining a?steady frequency in the grid. And no matter the source of generated power, electrical grid systems rely on both for grid security, safety, and reliability.

In a quest to reduce the carbon footprint, renewable energy sources will continue to be widely adopted.?Wind and solar power are non-synchronous and provide no system inertia. It's, therefore, necessary to find solutions to curb the reducing system inertia.?

Convert a Generator to a Synchronous Condenser

With the Rotating Grid Stabilizer (RGS) Conversion solutions, you can repurpose your existing power plant assets to achieve grid stability. By utilizing power plants that may otherwise become stranded assets, RGS conversions provide necessary system inertia, short circuit power and reactive power to the grid for that balance.?

Inherent frequency response, the result of system inertia, is the ability of an electrical machine to absorb and store or inject energy in order to manage frequency. One way to do this is to?use technology with a rotating mass, like flywheels and synchronous condensers,?to store energy for short-term frequency support. This helps to prevent blackouts, due to a rapid change of frequency and maintains a stable grid, within its frequency limits.?

?You can also generate?additional revenue streams?by providing additional active power with our?dual-mode turbine solution.

SIEMENS, GE...., are offering this conversions services

Killingholme Power Plant, UK

• Conversion of Combined Cycle Gas Turbines Plants for grid stabilization and steam turbines operating as rotating grid stabilizers
• Two steam turbines converted to synchronous condensers with flywheels
• Additional revenue from grid stability services

Ireland's great grid stabilizer

• Synchronous Condenser with the?world's largest flywheel
• Provides the same kind of rotation mass, inertia and short-circuit power as a coal?turbine
• Supplies sufficient reactive power to regulate voltage

Your generator can be converted to a Rotating Grid Stabilizer (RGS) in three ways

By spinning continuously, a Rotating Grid Stabilizer provides inertia, dampening fluctuations in the grid frequency:

RGS Basic Conversion

This cost-optimized solution converts existing turbogenerators into?synchronous condensers fast and at a reasonable cost. After the generator is synchronized, it provides short-circuit power to the grid. Additionally, it provides the inertia necessary for grid stability by means of its rotating mass, and it also provides or absorbs reactive power.

RGS Conversion with Flywheel

In order to?provide maximum inertia, generators can be extended with additional rotating mass from a flywheel. It's an effective method to maintain the system's inherent inertia that has been originally provided by the turbines. This also leads to the optimization of the grid frequency stabilization capabilities.

In order to minimize friction losses and reduce cooling efforts, flywheels are operated in a partial vacuum and equipped with a cooling system. Options also exist to de-blade the existing steam turbine and utilize the turbine shaft as an alternative source of inertia.

Hybrid RGS Train Conversion

If you are looking for maximum flexibility, then couple a gas or steam turbine with an additional SSS (Synchro-Self-Shifting) clutch between the generator and the turbine to allow?dual-mode operation. The option also exists to add additional inertia with a flywheel coupled to the existing shaft-line.

With this hybrid configuration, you get to?alternate between generation or grid stabilizer modes for maximum flexibility. Choosing this hybrid solution also allows you to participate in the capacity market, as well as unlock?new revenue streams in the grid stability market.

Rotating Grid Stabilizer (RGS) can contribute to the energy transition

Increasing the production and use of renewable energies benefits all of us, but it requires a stable electricity grid. RGS conversions can provide plant operators with an excellent option to?revive plants and contribute to the growth of renewable energy.

Here are five ways in which RGS conversions contribute:

1.??????Enabling more renewable power infeed by keeping the grid stable

2.??????Reducing the risk of blackouts or other instabilities of the power system

3.??????Providing an option to create new revenue streams

4.??????Maximizing the RoI of existing investments in the current infrastructure

5.??????Keeping employment of plant personnel intact

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