Transformation of the Top and Tail of Energy Networks

在能源网络中有两个非常特殊的地方，现有的网络技术和基础设施需要彻底改变，以使我们转向低碳经济。在网络的顶端，即最高的传输电压，预期在欧洲（和其他地方）出现的跨大陆能源交换是由可再生能源的多样性和负载的多样性的开发驱动的，这需要技术上的激进创新。许多这些拟议的互连将是海底或地下电缆和高压直流（HVDC）必须使用。高压直流使用的电压源AC/DC转换器的额定功率目前约为500兆瓦，而需要高达20吉瓦的链路。如此巨大的变化需要技术上的彻底创新。为了将我们的研究重点放在高压直流电缆技术和电源转换器上，我们定义了1 MV和5 kA的目标额定值。网络的尾部是所谓的最后一英里，在仪表后面布线到客户住宅。电力系统一半以上的资本成本都花在了最后一英里，成本和干扰障碍使其难以改变。不仅消费电子产品的最新变化尚未影响网络设计，未来的供热和运输服务也需要满足根本性的变化。挑战在于，如何在不改变最昂贵的部分（地下电缆和管道）的情况下，重新设计最后一英里资产的使用方式。要做到这一点，就需要重新审视所需的能源服务，并了解满足不同服务期望的灵活性。一个由多所大学组成的联盟已经被召集在一起，以解决我们能源网络的这种转变。几个投标合作伙伴在网络领域的Supergen联盟中发挥了主导作用，但这个联盟包括新的合作伙伴，他们的专业知识，特别是在电力电子领域，被强烈地表明是改变游戏规则的。华威大学、诺丁汉大学、帝国理工大学和斯特拉斯克莱德大学的电力电子研究人员，以及曼彻斯特和南安普顿的绝缘材料研究小组，首次提议共同努力，将基础技术的发展应用于网络问题。这些技术发展被纳入斯特拉斯克莱德、曼彻斯特、卡迪夫和帝国理工大学的能源网络规划和运营工作中。伯明翰大学带来了能源经济学方面的专业知识，以及帝国大学在能源政策和消费者接受度社会科学方面的专业知识。几家重要的工业公司参与了这个项目，组成了我们的科学顾问委员会，并收集和使用出现的结果。这些公司包括国家电网（National Grid）和中央网络（Central Networks）等网络运营商，阿尔斯通电网（Alstom Grid）和科孚德（Converteam）等设备制造商，以及Dynnex和陶氏化学（Dow Chemicals）等零部件制造商。虽然拟议的项目将解决主要的技术挑战，但我们认识到，改造我们的能源网络不仅仅是一个技术问题。该联盟的成员已经与英国一些行政部门的公务员和顾问建立了联系，包括DECC、苏格兰政府、WAG和NIE。这些联系使我们能够了解能源政策制定的背景。联盟成员就低碳网络基金、议会特别委员会向Ofgem提供建议，并积极参与能源技术研究所委托的项目。因此，尽管您的项目的重点是在20-40年的时间尺度上，但我们的研究结果将更早地影响网络发展。迄今为止，我们与这些组织的合作伙伴进行的讨论表明，我们对能源网络大挑战的工作能够做出贡献感到非常兴奋。

There are two very particular places in energy networks where existing network technology and infrastructure needs radical change to move us to a low carbon economy. At the Top of network, i.e. the very highest transmission voltages, the expected emergence of transcontinental energy exchange in Europe (and elsewhere) that is driven by exploitation of diversity in renewable sources and diversity in load requires radical innovation in technologies. Many of these proposed interconnectors will be submarine or underground cable and High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) must be used. Power ratings for the voltage source AC/DC converters for HVDC use are presently around 500 MW while the need is for links of up to 20 GW. A change of this magnitude requires radical innovation in technology. To focus our research in HVDC cable technology and power converters we have defined target ratings of 1 MV and 5 kA. The Tail of the network is the so-called last mile and behind the meter wiring into customer premises. More than half the capital cost of an electricity system is sunk in the last mile and cost and disruption barriers have made it resistant to change. Not only have recent changes in consumer electronics yet to impact network design, there are radical changes in future heat and transport services that need to be met. The challenge is to reengineer the way in which the last mile assets are used without changing the most expensive part: the cables and pipes in the ground. To get this right means starting with a fresh look at the energy services required and seeing what flexibility there is to meet the service expectation differently. A consortium of universities has been brought together to address this transformation of our energy networks. Several of the bid partners have had leading roles in Supergen consortia in the networks area but this consortium includes new partners whose expertise, especially in the power electronics field, is strongly indicated as game-changing. For the first time, the power electronics researchers in Warwick, Nottingham, Imperial and Strathclyde and the insulation materials groups in Manchester and Southampton are proposing to work together bringing developments of underpinning technologies to bear on network issues. These technology developments are folded into the energy network planning and operations work of Strathclyde, Manchester, Cardiff and Imperial. Birmingham brings energy economics expertise and Imperial expertise in energy policy and the social science of consumer acceptance. Several important industrial companies are engaged with this programme to form our scientific advisory board and to pick up and use results that emerge. These in clued network operators such as National Grid and Central Networks, equipment manufacturers such as Alstom Grid and Converteam and component manufacturers such as Dynnex and Dow Chemicals.Although the proposed project will address major challenges of technology, we recognise that transforming our energy networks is not merely a technical question. Members of the consortium already have links with civil servants and advisors in a number of administrations in the UK including DECC, the Scottish Government, WAG and NIE. These links allow us to understand the context in which energy policy is made. Consortium members have given advice to Ofgem on the Low Carbon Networks Fund, Parliamentary Select Committees and have been active in projects commissioned through the Energy Technologies Institute. Thus although the focus of your project is on a timescale of 20-40 years the results of our research will impact network development much earlier. Discussions to date with our partners in these organisations suggest a great deal of excitement about what work on the Energy Networks Grand Challenge can contribute.