With the release of AEMO’s Integrated System Plan (ISP) comes increased commentary on the need for power system services critical to ensuring the secure operation of the NEM. Of growing importance are services to provide voltage control and system strength, frequency control and inertia, ramping and dispatchability. In this week’s ‘Chart of the week’, we will explore the issue of ramping and the associated challenges as the transition continues.
Figure 1 shows the NEM-wide ramping requirement for synchronous generation in FY2020 to meet the change in demand and VRE on a half-hourly basis. The shaded areas of the chart represent differing percentiles in the time of day variability of the required ramp.