Overview

EirGrid is the transmission system operator of the Republic of Ireland. EirGrid is assessing the options for an upgrade project called Kildare-Meath, or Capital Project 966. This proposed electricity network development will help transfer power to the east of the country and distribute it within Meath, Kildare and Dublin counties. EirGrid is currently assessing upgrade options to determine which is most suitable for ensuring the safe and secure electricity supply and bringing new renewable energy sources onto the grid, helping reduce carbon emissions and reach Ireland’s 2030 Climate Action targets.

Challenge

In Ireland there is a growing demand for electricity in the East due to increased economic activity and the planned connection of new large-scale IT industry in the region. A significant number of Ireland’s electricity generators are in the South and South West. This is where many wind farms and some modern, conventional electricity generators are also located. This power is primarily transported cross-country on two 400 kV power lines from the Moneypoint substation in the west of the country to the Dunstown substation and Woodland substation in the east of the country. Transporting increased amounts of electricity on these two lines could cause problems that would affect electricity supply and security throughout Ireland, particularly if one of the lines is lost unexpectedly.

Project Solution

The transmission system needs to be strengthened to solve the emerging issue between Dunstown and Woodland substations. ​ PSC investigated installing a new underground cable (UGC) between Dunstown and Woodland at either 220 or 400kV. PSC undertook a set of studies to examine the impact of installing each of these new cable circuits considering other network reinforcements taking place in the transmission and distribution networks.

PSC investigated the impact of both cable options in terms of:

• Reactive power compensation requirements for intact and system outage conditions
• Harmonic distortion resulting from increased capacitance from the new UGC and associated reinforcements options
• Risk of temporary overvoltages on the system as a result of the new cables, reactive compensation and harmonic filtering systems
• Risk of zero-miss phenomenon due to reactive compensation requirements for the UGC circuits

Where these studies identified limitations or challenges that EirGrid would need to overcome, PSC carried out sensitivity studies and identified potential mitigation solutions. These mitigation solutions support the techno-economic analysis that EirGrid will undertake when identifying their optimum overall solution.

PSC Advantage

PSC has extensive experience in carrying out all of the power system analysis necessary to undertake these studies to a high quality. The team members involved in delivering this project are recognized industry leaders in transmission system analysis. They are actively engaged in the industry’s technical development through various publications and CIGRE working groups.