Taiwan Power Company turns to Reactive Technologies to improve ‘grid inertia’

Low grid inertia is one of the risks associated with decommissioning fossil fuel power generators while quickly ramping up renewable energy generation.

Grid inertia refers to energy stored in generators and industrial motors that rotate at the same frequency as the electrical grid. In the event of a blackout, this stored energy can keep machines running, acting like a temporary reserve source of power.

Shutting down these carbon-fueled machines reduces greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change. But the resulting low grid inertia can make it harder for utilities to harness solar, wind, and other sustainable energy sources that fluctuate based on weather conditions.

Now the Taiwan Power Company is partnering with Britain-based Reactive Technologies to measure grid inertia more accurately as the company closes down its coal-fired plants and turns on renewable energy sources, said a September 25 press release.

“Along with the Taiwan government’s aggressive goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, the decreased system inertia derived from the high penetration rate of renewable energy is a significant challenge to Taipower,” said Taiwan Power Company Vice President Wu Chin-Chung.

Reactive’s GridMetrix product analyses transmission system infrastructure, including non-synchronous generation – or solar and wind – and demand-side loads that are hard to measure. Operators who have deployed the solution can find “hidden inertia” that can account for as much as 30 percent of total system inertia, for example, giving them actionable insight into their system and users’ needs.

“There is a pressing need to transition to secure, zero carbon grids, and our customers across the globe are asking us to help them deliver this at pace,” said Reactive Co-Founder and CEO Marc Borrett. ce/jd