I have been working in energy services for the past 2 years and i still think that its such a complex domain to understand for someone not coming from electrical or mechanical engineering back grounds. So i thought of trying to explain what I have learnt so far in this blog for whoever is interested in learning it.
Welcome to energy systems for dummies-
Typically in large energy systems, electricity is generated by a mixture of fossil fuel and renewable generation assets. The output from these is stepped up to a very high voltage by transformers before entering the transmission network that carries the electricity over long distances to the region where it is needed. Once close to where it is needed the voltage is stepped down again by transformers and the electricity enters the distribution network. The distribution network takes the electricity over shorter distances to all the homes and businesses that need that electricity.
What are the key roles in the energy system? First we’ve got the generators, they’re the owners of the large generation assets on the system and sell the output from them into the wholesale electricity market. Next we have the transmission system operator, they own and manage the high voltage long distance transmission network, then the distribution system operator they only manage the lower voltage distribution network, then the consumers these are the users of the electricity. Suppliers are responsible for buying the right amount of electricity from generators and selling it to consumers.
Another key role is the energy system operator they are responsible for the operation of the energy system as a whole ensuring supply and demand always balance. The final role is that of aggregators they aggregate smaller flexible generation and demand assets selling flexibility from them to the ESO or potentially the DSO.
Now when operating the energy system as you can imagine there are many challenges that need to be overcome to ensure safe reliable and efficient operation and explaining this whole thing is much harder than operating it.
Let me know your thoughts.
