EMN Smart Electricity Grids | Newsletter Issue 3 | March 2023

Smart electricity grids - a key for our future sustainable energy supply

Meeting the energy needs of a low-carbon, sustainable future and the goals of the European Green Deal have a profound effect on electricity grids. It will require a transition towards smart grids which are resilient, efficient, and secure, underpinned by robust, effective metrology.

EURAMET’s European Metrology Network (EMN) for Smart Electricity Grids is providing measurement science expertise to standardisation, utilities and industry experts, to support the development of a high quality and sustainable electricity supply during future decades.

During a network meeting in January the EMN discussed the progress of activities, including its draft Strategic Research Agenda, built around stakeholder needs, and the coordinated alignment of national R&D strategies to tackle present and future measurement challenges.

EMN Smart Grids is working to become a single point of contact in this area for Europe and will therefore be present at the upcoming International Metrology Congress (CIM). Smart Grids, together with further networks, will be part of the booth on ‘EURAMET Networks for Energy and Environment’. In addition, the EMN will be presenting a talk on metrology support for implementing the EU Green Deal.

Enrico Mohns, the acting EMN Chair, comments:

"CIM will be an excellent opportunity for EMN Smart Grids to build stakeholder relationships, learn more about the community’s metrology needs and make strong links for the future.
The visibility of our network fosters our aim to collaborate closely with leading industry partners to enhance the uptake of new technology by electricity grids via reliable measurements.
I am extremely pleased with the progress of our EMN, both in providing material for successfully becoming the single point of contact and by feeding metrology needs into research projects."

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE SMART GRIDS COMMUNITY:

International recognition of the EMN’s Strategic Research Agenda at major conference

Based on stakeholder needs, EMN Smart Grids has produced a draft Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) which includes an overview of the main research themes in smart grid metrology for the coming decade.

Gert Rietveld (past EMN Chair) presented the draft SRA at CPEM, the international Conference on Precision Electromagnetic Measurements, in a special session on ‘Energy and Smart Grids’.

The presentation resulted in an extensive discussion of the SRA as summarised by Gert Rietveld: “Industry experts and metrologists from all over the world appreciated the leading role taken by the EMN Smart Grids and confirmed the measurement challenges identified. Several National Metrology Institutes indicated that they would use the EMN’s research strategy to steer national research programmes in smart grid metrology in the coming years.”

The EMN plans to publish the final version of the SRA in March 2023, including roadmaps for the implementation of the prioritised research needs.

Large interest for final stakeholder workshops for European high-voltage projects

Two European research projects, Metrology for future energy transmission and Support for standardisation of high voltage testing with composite and combined wave shapes, will conclude their project activities in May 2023.

One of the key strengths of these projects is the close interaction with their network of stakeholders in the high voltage community. The high level of interest in this metrological topic, and its value in supporting the European electricity grid, is illustrated by the fact that the forthcoming three-day High Voltage Workshop is almost fully booked with more than 50 registered participants.

During the workshop, project partners will present technical achievements in talks and poster sessions, as well as giving laboratory tours showing some of the measurment systems from the project.

COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS RELATED TO THE EMN:

EMPIR project ‘FutureEnergy’ is developing new methods and hardware to extend the traceable measurements for ultra-high voltage direct current (UHV-DC) of 1000kV and above, which is more efficient over long distances than the alternating current currently used.

When using equipment in high-voltage grids, reliable high-voltage tests are required. These tests verify that high-voltage devices can withstand any operating conditions.

EMPIR project ‘HV-com²’ is working to address these issues, with participating industrial partners, universities and seven European metrology institutes.

DC railway and metro systems, supplied by unidirectional substations, show significant waste of energy for their inability to fully recover the energy produced by electric braking.

The new project ‘e-TRENY’ will develop future methodologies for DC transport efficiency determination, that combine accurate on-site measurements with circuit models of the railway electric system.

Society is increasingly using switching devices such as inverters, bulky power electronic converters and active filters, both as loads as well as part of generators - especially for renewable energy sources. This has driven a consequent proliferation of disturbances on grid voltage and current, due to the harmonics of the components around the switching frequency.

The new project ‘ADMIT’ will develop traceable measurement methods and procedures for the characterisation of instrument transformers used to measure disturbances up to 150 kHz in the medium voltage grid.

EMN FOR SMART GRIDS MEMBERS AND CONTACTS:

An overview of Smart Electricity Grids Members and Contact Persons can be found at the network's website >>

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Disclaimer
Project information and links published in the current issue of the EURAMET newsletter are correct to the best of EURAMET's knowledge and in accordance with the current state of the art. EURAMET cannot be held responsible for the sufficiency or fitness for purpose of any information.The technologies presented in this newsletter may be covered by intellectual property rights.