In Polish energy sector the term „negawatt” is still in the realm of innovation, while in different ways it is fairly popular abroad. Thrift is a feature associated with the implementation of instruments such as as negawatts, for example in USA, Great Britian and Japan.
In developed countries, including Poland, about 10% of the power generated by power plants is required only for a few days a year. How much it costs to produce electricity by reserve power plants, if they are offline for 99% of the time? Cost of construction of traditional power plant with capacity of 1 GW is estimated in billions of PLN. What is the cost of building an alternative mechanism such as virtual power plant generating negawatts at the request of PSE (Polish Distribution System Operator)?
New office buildings, shopping centers and sports facilities are being built, the operation of which increases the demand for electricity, especially during the peak hours of the day with the highest probability of power shortages in the national power system. Raising the utility standards in commercial buildings create a growing threat of blackout occurrences, although actions described below will open a new path for better management of energy consumed in buildings.
Full implementation of the smart grind concepts (SmartGrid) assumes on the one hand, the use of intelligent electricity meters, and at the other the real-time control of selected (preferably most energy-intensive) processes in buildings. One of such processes is maintaining the comfort and safety of buildings residents – through ventilation, heating and air conditioning. These in turn are controlled by a computer from a so-called Building Management System (BMS).
A few additional facts: over 500 of about 700 office buildings are located in Warsaw. In the last 2 decades there were more than 250 large shopping complexes built in Poland which use forced ventilation and air conditioning. The vast majority of the approx. 600 sports facilities are indoor swimming pools, which are subsidized by the municipal budgets.
For example, if you combine into one synchronized system – power management of 1500 large volume buildings, you can create a virtual power plant with a capacity of no less than 150 negawatts.
The concept of virtual power plant was developed from the need to remunerate the behaviour of active consumers who share their ability to shift power consumption from the time when the energy on the wholesale energy market is the most expensive. Such services are called Demand Side Response (DSR) and are poplar in many developed countries (eg. USA, Japan, France, Britain, Australia). Power reduction is achieved thanks to industrial customers, commercial buildings or buildings managed by state institutions.
In 2015, the management board of Polish DSO – PSE promoted the concept of DSR without paying consumers for their willingness to provide such services. During the days of the most intense heat PSE announced emergency power stages and they have not commissioned reduction of consumption from recipients contracted by Enspirion – the first Polish aggregator of DSR. In the coming year, PSE – statutory security guard of national power grid will change their daily planning and balancing procedures of major nodes in the network due to the growing share of energy coming from the renewable sources. The biggest industrial consumers gathered at the Forum of Electricity and Gas are interested in participation in programmes such as DSR. When we consider what changes are coming in next decades, especially our approach to energy available from the electric socket – it is worth remembering that energy drives the everyday tools that are essential to our everyday existence. With advancement in technology, the line blurs between the need to ensure the safety of residents of urban areas and the initial provision of comfort. The city in which we live can become a trap even during short uncontrollable blackouts. Construction of virtual power plants cannot replace the basic actions to increase the energy security of the country which involve construction of new efficient coal-fired units to replace those which are worn out.
The combination of DSR potential on industrial and large volume buildings can bring PSE over 1 GW of intervention power. The cost of constructing several hundred megawatt virtual power plant is very small compared to conventional power plant of the same power. However, as of yet no attempt was made to plan such a venture.
Today’s question is: when will virtual power plants become of one the recipes for avoiding blackouts in Poland? This question remains unanswered.