al report

It is entirely PR fluff.

They are mere toys. A realistic size for grid stabilisation is 100MW per facility and multiple units near to renewable producers and major cities. Buffer at source and buffer near the biggest loads so that the network infrastructure can be used more efficiently 24/7.

The three planned grid connected ones near me intended for true load shifting are each 1GW power and 4GWh capacity. UK's largest BESS are typically now 100MW/200MWh there is a big cluster of existing kit around

The pumped storage facility if used correctly should have been able to pull their nuts out of the fire when the s*it hit the fan.

Their claim to be the largest pumped storage in Europe is also questionable as Dinorwig near Snowdonia in Wales is rated at nominal

The Spain's government has written a decree with a long list of things and regulations related to all this. It is long and I only heard of it on the radio, did not take notes, but among many things they are promoting the installation of batteries on solar/wind sites.

Article in Spanish:

Antonio Barrero F.

The Council of Ministers yesterday approved a Royal Decree-Law containing ‘urgent measures to reinforce the electricity system’. But not only. Because, apart from arriving by way of urgency (and hand in hand with the extraordinary blackout of 28A), the RDL presented this Tuesday by the Executive includes a whole battery of measures to accelerate the energy transition. So simple. Among them...? Well, measures to promote self-consumption (extending the radius from 2 to 5 kilometres), measures for the deployment of the heat pump (tax relief on IBI and ICIO), storage (speeding up procedures), energy communities (the RDL includes the figure of the collective self-consumption manager) and independent aggregators.

Making a virtue of necessity. Spain went to zero on 28 April and, two months later, on 24 June, the government is putting its foot down on the accelerator of the energy transition to avoid similar events in the future... but not only. This is the feeling that the RDL approved by the Council of Ministers has left for the moment (the small print of the Royal Decree-Law will have to be read slowly when it is published). In any case, that is the feeling: that the government has done with the stroke of a pen what it should have done much earlier. Or what it should have been doing over the last two years. For example? Extending the radius of self-consumption, something that everyone has been agreeing on for a long time. For example? Develop the figure of the independent aggregator, which has long been demanded by the vast majority of the sector's agents. For example? Regulating the figure of the self-consumption manager (we will have to read the RDL slowly).

Be that as it may, it seems that many measures that had long been in the drawer have now finally seen the light of day... at the stroke of a blackout. Because that has been the pretext. Last week, the government presented its report on the energy zero, a report in which it apportioned blame (probably with a small mouth) between the system operator, Red Eléctrica, and the electricity companies (Iberdrola, Endesa and company); and announced at the same time that it would present this week, as it has done, a RDL with a whole battery of measures to prevent (and avoid) future zeroes and, incidentally, to speed up the energy transition.

And that is indeed what the Minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Sara Aagesen, announced on Tuesday: a RDL containing, to begin with

(1) measures to control compliance with the obligations of the different agents (roughly so that what happened on 28 January, according to Red Eléctrica, does not happen again: the electricity companies did not comply with their obligation to control the voltage, despite the fact that they are obliged to do so, and despite the fact that, moreover, they are paid for it);

(2) measures for the inclusion of new tools to reinforce the system; and

(3) measures to boost electrification, storage and flexibility.

All these issues,‘ explains the Ministry, ’are the result of the work of the Committee for the analysis of the circumstances of the electricity crisis of 28 April.

Sara Aagesen, Minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge: "the objective of strengthening the resilience of our electricity system takes on special relevance in the current context, a complex and geopolitically very, very complicated context. Promoting the energy transition, promoting the electrification of industrial demand, sustainable mobility, the entry of more innovative technologies and solutions, such as storage and flexibility, allows us to create a more robust, more solvent system, with more stable and predictable bills for citizens, the self-employed, SMEs and our industry. In short, more strategic autonomy in a complex, uncertain and volatile world".

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

It sounds almost sensible- or as sensible as anything that a politician could say publicly might beThe technical inadequacies that created the blackout aren't mentioned at all, but at least the storage options that might prevent another are invoked.

Energy policy

The 65 actions are aimed at incorporating additional tools into the networks to facilitate voltage control, stability in the event of oscillations and, in general, to reinforce the electricity system Redacción

Editorial staff

The Council of Ministers, at the request of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (Miteco), has approved a list of specific actions to increase the resilience of the electricity grid, which will be incorporated as a new Specific Modification to the Development Plan for the Electricity Transmission Grid 2021-2026, the second, after the one implemented in 2024. The list includes 65 actions aimed at incorporating additional tools into the grids to facilitate voltage control, stability in the event of fluctuations and, in general, the reinforcement of the electricity system, both on the Spanish mainland and in the Canary Islands and Balearic Islands.

The actions include the installation of synchronous compensators for the first time on the mainland, as well as the incorporation of new units on the islands. These devices provide dynamic voltage control and, given their local nature, are distributed geographically to reinforce it in the different areas, complementing the equipment and solutions that the system already has for this function.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

... You can read the rest on the link if desired.

I did. Thanks.

What exactly do they mean by "Synchronous Compensators"?

Joe

I don't know, I'm not an electrical engineer. But one of the comments may explain a bit:

Frank

Synchronous Compensators are also known as Rotary Capacitors, they are unloaded synchronous motors which, like synchronous generators, will deliver reactive power (same as a capacitor) when overexcited, and consume reactive power when underexcited (like an inductor). They have been in common use since the early days of power distribution to produce reactive power near loads, to reduce the amount remote generation needs to send over transmission lines, with the attendant losses. Regular capacitors are also used for this purpose, but the rotary type is continuously adjustable.

Glen

Yeah. I read Frank's comment as well, and he may well be correct, but one cannot assume that politicians are being quite that precise.

In the mechanical world, it's quite common to have a large but unloaded three-phase induction motor running at or near synchronous speed, precisely to absorb surge loads, and it would also serve to absorb surge overvoltages ... if they are large enough. The energy is stored in the rotational energy of the rotor.

Do we have any idea how big these Synchronous Compensators are, in kilograms?

The good news is that they are talking spinning reserve, like big turbines, not fancy electronics and batteries.

Joe

Tons might be a more appropriate unit of weight, though I haven't seen any figures.

From:

"Hitachi Energy's synchronous condenser system cover 10 - 200 MVAr range with single-machine solutions. Installation of larger machines or when

A 200 MVAr synchronous condenser will be about the same size as a 200 MW synchronous motor.

Glen

...

Synchronous condenser

In electrical engineering, a synchronous condenser (sometimes called a syncon, synchronous capacitor or synchronous compensator) is a DC-excited synchronous motor, whose shaft is not connected to anything but spins freely.[1] Its purpose is not to convert electric power to mechanical power or vice versa, but to adjust conditions on the three phase electric power transmission grid. Its field is controlled by a voltage regulator to either generate or absorb reactive power as needed to adjust the grid's voltage, or to improve power factor. The condenser’s installation and operation are identical to large electric motors and generators. (Some generators are actually designed to be able to operate as synchronous condensers with the prime mover disconnected[2]).

They are politicians, but they are not daft. They had a bunch of experts write a report, and they are acting on that. Not listening much to what other politicians say.

I believe that was left for a later stage.

Right. While I recall them being referred to as rotary capacitors somewhere, even the classic "Principles of Alternating Current Machinery" by Lawrence and Richards 4th ed 1953 calls them synchronous condensers. (This book was written by the MIT professors who first developed a lot of the rigorous analysis presented.)

Glen

But I don't get where the capacitor relationship comes in. Do they have capacitors somewhere?

You can find the details in the reports someone here posted earlier:

and the addendum:

Glen

con-

They only have a few small capacitors in the control circuits, not directly line connected, but the rotating machine can behave like a capacitor (condenser is an old term for capacitor) in that when overexcited current leads voltage, providing reactive power to inductive loads where current lags voltage. Reactive power is out of phase with voltage and adds current to the distribution system without carrying any real power (while incurring real losses), what it does is provide the field in all of the many induction motors on the grid. Capacitors are often used near loads to reduce reactive power losses, the synchronous condenser does the same thing as well as providing stabilization by responding to grid voltage variation with automatic changes in reactive power (which has a stronger influence on grid voltage than real power).

You can find good descriptions of reactive power many places, but it is a somewhat complex subject.

Glen

I didn't see that anywhere. Where did you find it?

Joe

Google, and this …