When the wind blows across the Minnesota prairies, there is always someone in Vancouver, Washington, who knows its exact speed, direction and temperature. When it rains in St. Louis, Colorado, there is always someone in Vancouver who knows how much and for how long. In fact, someone in Vancouver knows the current weather conditions at wind and solar farms in the 24 states where Avangrid generates renewable energy. And they get the data in less time than it takes to read this paragraph. Accurate and timely data is vital to managing intermittency, when power generation does not meet demand. This ensures uninterrupted electricity in homes, even when it rains on the solar panels and there is nothing to turn the wind turbines.
A team at the Avangrid National Control Center monitors and operates renewable energy production facilities 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to ensure the reliable delivery of emissions-free electricity to 3.5 million homes. Avangrid CEO Pedro Azagra describes the center as “an air traffic control tower for the transmission of electricity.”
“The National Control Center is the heartbeat of the operations of our more than 70 wind and solar facilities throughout the country,” Azagra said. “As the third largest onshore renewable energy generator in the United States, it is critical for us to have a state-of-the-art generation control room. “This team performs many mission-critical functions that allow us to meet security, regulatory, contractual and business obligations.”
Pedro Azagra
The center was established in 2001 and has been upgraded several times to handle a total installed capacity of 8.7 gigawatts (GW). Approximately 1.5 GW of additional capacity is under construction and will be operational soon. The United States' first large-scale offshore wind farm in Massachusetts (Vineyard Wind 1), with a capacity of 800 megawatts (MW), will begin generating at the end of 2023 and will be managed from the control center in Vancouver.
“Thousands of wind turbines and hundreds of inverters that convert energy from solar panels into alternating current are monitored,” explains Kit Blair, the center's director of operations. “The center receives updated data from wind and solar installations every four to eight seconds. “We have a highly trained team dedicated to converting primary data into useful information for facility operators.”
The center quickly detects when a wind turbine needs repair or reconnection. Technicians, who may be thousands of miles away from the center, are then sent to the problem site by the center's operators. “We also closely monitor the weather as it has a large impact on our operations,” Blair said. All of this is done remotely.
“We harness renewable energy and send it to the transmission network,” explains Blair, “which means we are constantly interacting with transmission operators, market players and customers.” Blair says transmission companies apply strict grid standards for critical aspects such as voltage regulation, to maintain system stability and ensure uninterrupted electricity supply.
Intermittent self-balancing
Blair says they are somewhat unique as a renewable operator because “we operate in an area that has a self-balancing capacity” when there are periods of intermittency. The northwest region of the country has a variety of electricity generation resources. Avangrid recently joined the Western Energy Imbalance Market, which is managed by the California Independent System Operator. “While the power we generate can be transmitted to other locations during intermittencies,” Blair said, “we also have other resources to balance supply and demand every five minutes, and we can also buy power in this market. The best thing is that it returns to the optimal system every five minutes.”
A key aspect of this system is that it allows renewable generation to remain operational and maximize production, even in the face of intermittent supply. “This is a crucial part of our work, especially when a significant amount of the generation depends on Mother Nature,” Blair said. “Managing intermittency requires great care to ensure a constant power supply for customers.” In other words, when you turn on the switch at home, the light will come on as expected.
The director of the National Control Center, dominated by screens, servers and extensive data compilations, explains that the greater penetration of renewables in the grid and digitalization makes the operations of the center when it was inaugurated 13 years ago very different from those of now. He also expects more important changes in the future, largely due to the so-called smart grid.
“Smart grid is an interesting term because it can mean different things and it is going to play a huge role in decarbonizing the grid,” says Blair. For him, this advance implies above all two things. One of them is that more energy can be brought to the transmission lines if climatic conditions allow it, the other is how demand will be managed with respect to the available supply of renewables so that it is more efficient.
At Avangrid's control center, teams work in 12-hour shifts to manage the supply and demand of renewable energy. They must first go through a rigorous technical training program in order to effectively use a relatively new and constantly advancing technology. Blair says many of the technicians started out as turbine operators and about half are veterans of the United States Armed Forces. Blair says he enjoys telling young people about the great career opportunities where every day is different and the ability to stay calm is an advantage. Because unexpected emergencies, such as hurricanes, polar vortexes, and wildfires, are expected to occur.
The director of this Avangrid nerve center explains that last July a fire broke out near the Lund Hill solar field in southeastern Washington state, which caused the activation of emergency protocols and the evacuation of personnel. “The fire got so close that the fire department asked that we take the place out of service and we secured it, essentially removing power so as not to create a safety problem when the planes spread fire retardant and water.”
All of this was done from the center in Vancouver, when the fire was controlled, about 150 miles from where it occurred, activity was returned to the solar field.
CREDITS
Illustrations Monica Juarez
Design and layout Mónica Juárez and Alfredo García
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