The regulation of frequency in the National Electricity market is managed through frequency control ancillary services (FCAS) – one of four ancillary services used by AEMO to manage the power system securely and safeguard supply quality.
FCAS providers (registered power generators) bid their services into the FCAS markets in a similar way to how generators bid into the energy market, and are financially rewarded for availability and for delivery of these services. Service providers must be able to show their conformance to the ancillary services specification. Insulect have a conformance monitoring solution that is operating in numerous monitoring applications across the power system.
Conformance Requirements & the Insulect Solution
In order to capture the required FCAS conformance data, the power flow representing the amount of generation and the local frequency must be measured at or close to each of the relevant connection points (National Electricity Rules 3.11.7a). The combination of the modular Qualitrol IDM+ monitor and Autopoll software is being utilised in several monitoring applications across Australia, New Zealand and the world, in generation, transmission, distribution and industrial power systems. They are contributing to more efficient and stable networks through fault and disturbance monitoring, highly accurate fault location, power quality analysis, regulatory compliance reporting, and phasor measurement data.
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Key System Benefits for FCAS
Hardware: Qualitrol IDM+
Highly accurate
Simultaneous measuring of the fault current
Flexible DFR sampling rates
Flexible DDR sampling rates
Software: Autopoll
Standalone polling software
Polling up to 50Hz
Polling up to 1Hz
Includes DDR-T and DDR-C
What impact are renewables having on grid security and the effectiveness of ancillary services, especially FCAS?
Here are four great articles that provide interesting perspectives on this topic and discuss where things are heading in the future:
Generation & Power Plant Monitoring
In addition to FCAS conformance, the IDM+ / iQ+ system is well suited to broader generation power system monitoring. The modular hardware and multi-functional software support the monitoring and analysis of internal faults and disturbances; power quality; embedded generation connectivity; and AEMO compliance.
Contact Insulect to discuss how the Qualitrol IDM+ monitor and Autopoll software can help with your FCAS requirements.