Respond newsletter May 2015

Project overview

The Department of Industry wrote in 2005 that active fault level management will help distribution network operators to quickly connect customers’ low carbon demandand generation and at a lower cost than traditional reinforcement. By combining innovative technical and commercial solutions with existing assets, the Respond project will make that vision a reality. 

Respond utilises an intelligent Fault Level Assessment Tool coupled with two noveltechnical solutions and a revolutionary commercial concept. This commercial concept will benefit customers by establishing a new market in which they can participate tosolve network fault level issues. 

The Fault Level Assessment Tool provides a platform from which a range of innovativefault level mitigation techniques can be adaptively controlled. Respond will actively monitor demand and generation on the network, continually assess the fault level andautomatically enable one of the innovative techniques when necessary. This is the firsttime that fault level will be actively managed on 6.6kV, 11kV and 33kV networks. 

Combining existing assets and innovative solutions in this way will accelerate the uptake of low carbon demand and renewable generation, avoid the need to replace expensive switchgear and cables prematurely and deliver savings to all distributionnetwork customers. 

The Respond method releases the same capacity as traditional reinforcement but up to 18 times faster and at much lower cost – up to 80% cheaper – potentially saving Great Britain £2.3 billion by 2050.

The Fault Level Assessment Tool

The Fault Level Assessment Tool will be installed in our controlroom and is responsible for assessing the fault level in near real time. It will use the configuration from our network management system (NMS) and generation/demand data to conduct this assessment.

Based on predefined settings within the software, the tool will then instruct the three fault level mitigation techniques to 'enable' or 'disable' via the NMS. The techniques will only be enabled at times when the fault level approaches or rises above equipment fault level ratings. The three techniques are known as Adaptive Protection, the I_S-limiter and the Fault Current Limiting service.

The three Respond techniques

Adaptive Protection – also known as sequential tripping. This technique re-sequences the operation of circuit breakers and will be retrofitted into existing substation equipment.

Fault Current Limiting service (FCL service) – industrial, commercial and generation customers can operate their equipment so they can offer fault level management services to DNOs using new technology which will be trialled under Respond. This commercial solution will enable customers to earn rewards and will benefit all distribution customers through reduced reinforcement costs.

IS-limiter – an existing technology used on private networks in the UK and extensively on public networks in Europe, USA and Australia as a fault current mitigation technique. This will be the first installation of an IS-limiter on a DNO network. A 2004 report written by Parsons Brinckerhoff examining the development of a safety case for the use of current limiting devices suggested that installation of IS-limiters would lead to difficulties in complying with the Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations (ESQCR) and Electricity at Work Regulations. PB Power is the technical support Partner for this Project. As part of the Respond project we are aiming to demonstrate how these devices can be deployed safely and legally and unlock the benefits this technology can provide for customers.

Our partners

Our partners are the leading experts in their fields, either in research, technology or customer engagement. Below is a list of our Respond project partners:

• ABB
• The Association for Decentralised Energy
• ENER-G
• Impact Research
• Kelvatek
• Parsons Brinckerhoff
• Schneider Electric
• United Utilities

Getting involved

In common with our previous LCN Fund project, Capacity to Customers, Respond potentially offers financial benefits to customers who are willing and able to provide a response to us in the form of the Fault Current Limiting service (FCL service).

Before the purchase of the FCL services, we will undertake a customer survey with industrial and commercial (I&C) demand and generation customers. This survey, led by Impact Research, will include distribution network customers from across Great Britain and is supported by our project partners ENER-G, the Association for Decentralised Energy (ADE) and United Utilities. The aim of the survey is to determine the willingness and ability of customers across different I&C sectors to provide managed FCL services and the price at which those customers would consider engaging in the provision of the service.

To develop our survey materials and customer contracts we will work with our project partners to convene an ‘expert panel’ to ensure our survey helps us to achieve the best possible learning outcome and maximises the information available from the I&C customer population.

If you would like to be involved in our expert panel, take part in our survey or if you are interested in providing a Fault Current Limiting service to us, please contact us.

What's next?

Over the next few months we will be focusing on the following key activities:

• Convening our first customer ‘expert panel’
• Developing our survey materials
• Launch of our project website
• Site selection and installation
• Installation and commissioning of fault mitigation equipment
• Building, testing and commissioning of the Fault Level Assessment Tool
• Continuing to keep you informed on our progress.

Find out more

• Next month we will launch our Respond project website. In the meantime you can watch our animated project video.
• If you have a general enquiry about the Respond project: email us phone us on 0800 195 4141.
• If you are interested in attending any of our seminars or knowledge sharing events or taking part in our customer survey please contact us.   

You can also text your question to 87070 - start your message with RESPOND. All text messages will be charged at your standard network rate.