Forsert elektrifisering gjennom tilknytning til nettet med vilkår og leveringspålitelighet tilpasset ulike nettkunder

The FORSEL project is carried out in a collaboration between SINTEF, REN, and six grid companies. REN is the owner of the project and contributes with their experience in developing practical guidelines and tools to ensure best practice among Norwegian grid companies. The overall aim of the project is to enable faster and cheaper electrification of the society with acceptable risk. The ongoing electrification is entirely dependent upon connecting new loads such as infrastructure for charging of electric vehicles to the Norwegian power grid. Building grid to make this happen can be costly and very time consuming. It is therefore crucial to utilize the existing grid as well as possible. However, this can result in higher risk for both grid companies and end-user, for instance risk of lower reliability of electricity supply. The first main deliverable from the project were guidelines for the grid companies’ assessment of whether grid connection is technically feasible (in Norwegian: “driftsmessig forsvarlig”). According to Norwegian regulation, grid companies are required to carry out such an assessment for each formal request they receive for connecting a new customer or providing an existing customer with higher grid capacity. These are assessment of the grid’s “hosting capacity” for new load demand, or if there “is room for” more load demand in the grid. So far there have been no common guidelines for how such assessments should be done. Grid companies therefore carry them out differently and with varying speed, which has been highlighted as an issue in a Norwegian public report (“Nett i tide”). In the new guidelines we understand the assessment to be a preliminary risk assessment – assuming no further measures – with respect to the reliability of supply and power quality of existing grid customers. The guidelines with methodology for these assessments were developed from the autumn of 2023 to the winter of 2024. The work was done through a newly established work group, organized by FORSEL in collaboration with Renewable Norway, where ten grid companies including Statnett participated. The next guidelines under development in FORSEL is for conditional or non-firm grid connections. This is an opportunity that grid companies and end-users since 2021 have been given to enter into conditional connection agreements. This is useful for end-users who have their own backup power supply or flexible demand (for instance electric ferries) and that can accept lower reliability of supply. Conditional grid connection is a possible measure for faster electrification but has turned out to be more challenging to implement than expected when the scheme was first introduced. The new guidelines are to be completed during autumn 2024. Another main activity in 2023 and 2024 has been load modelling for grid connection purposes in the distribution grid. A methodology for estimating the load demand for new housing units has been developed and presented on an international conference the autumn of 2024. REN implements the methodology in a first version of a “load demand calculator”. This software tool is to be used by grid companies when they are discussing with new grid customers the power capacities they are requesting access to, to avoid overdimensioning the grid. The tool will combine in a new way different types of information that are today not used as part of grid planning. The research activity on grid planning has also contributed to a project memo on calculation and use of coincidence factors and responsibility factors (or peak load factors). This will be part of a revitalization of the Grid planning guidebook, that is to be launched at the end of 2024. Fast-charging of electric vechicles (EVs) is a new type of electricity demand that FORSEL has emphasized in its work, in collaboration with the research project FuChar. For fast-charging stations to be connected to the grid faster, it is crucial to have some common arenas where the actors involved can meet to discuss possible solutions. Therefore, FORSEL and FuChar organized a workshop on the topic in February 2024. Other purposes with this workshop were to better understand the needs and challenges of charging stations actors, to understand the technical and regulatory opportunities related to grid connection, and to share experiences across the different actors in the EV charging value chain. The results from the workshop were summarized and shared in a project memo and a blog post. The work with fast-charging stations continues in a collaboration with the newly started project MegaCharge, which is focusing on charging of heavy-duty vehicles.

Det overordnede målet med prosjektet er å hjelpe nettselskapene med å få til hurtigere og rimeligere elektrifisering av samfunnet med akseptabel risiko. Den pågående elektrifiseringen er helt avhengig av at bl.a. ladeinfrastruktur for elektrisk transport og økt forbruk fra industri kan tilknyttes det norske kraftnettet. Bygging av nett for å få til dette kan være kostbart og ta lang tid. Derfor er det avgjørende å utnytte dagens nett best mulig. Dette kan imidlertid medføre høyere risiko for både nettselskap og kunder, f.eks. risiko for lavere leveringspålitelighet for elektrisk energi. Prosjektet skal derfor utvikle verktøy og metodikk for planlegging av kraftnett som muliggjør økt fleksibilitet og forsert nett-tilknytning. Forsert nett-tilknytning innebærer at forbruk tilknyttes nettet raskere samtidig som man utsetter eller unngår unødvendige nettinvesteringer. Samtidig vil ny verktøy og metodikk hjelpe nettselskapene med å få kontroll på risikoen og ta gode valg med tanke på fremtidige behov i nettet. Forsert nett-tilknytning er blitt særlig aktuell gjennom muligheten nettselskap og forbrukskunder fikk i 2021 for å inngå tilknytningsavtaler med vilkår (betinget tilknytning). Dette er nyttig for kunder som har egen reserveforsyning eller fleksibelt forbruk (f.eks. el-ferger) og som kan akseptere lavere leveringspålitelighet. Prosjektet skal utvikle anbefalinger for hvordan vilkår kan tilpasses ulike kundetyper. Prosjektet skal gi nettselskap bedre kunnskap om kunders faktiske behov for elektrisk energi og effekt, ledig kapasitet i nettet, og teknologi og ordninger for å få forbrukskunder til å agere fleksibelt og dermed utnytte dagens nett bedre. Prosjektet vil utføres i et samarbeid mellom SINTEF Energi og REN, der REN bidrar med sin erfaring med å utvikle praktiske retningslinjer og verktøy som ivaretar beste praksis i den norske nettbransjen.