Fichtner was engaged by Welsh Power as the Owner’s Engineer for the development and procurement of a synchronous condenser and flywheel project at its site at Rassau in Ebbw Vale. The innovative project is at the forefront of creating new ways to manage grid stability, with the technology providing inertia and short circuit level to strengthen the grid, as well as reactive power for voltage control. The provision of greater grid stability will in turn allow more renewable electricity to be used on the network, providing enhanced decarbonisation of the grid.

As part of our role as OE, our team carried out the following:

• Initial risk assessment workshop to identify and assess any areas of concern
• TVR Study including power system model development
• Attended meetings with the supplier and DNO Western Power Distribution
• Attended SynCon factory acceptance tests
• Site walk around to ensure issues highlighted during the design review had been resolved

Welsh Power was awarded a contract to provide stability services to National Grid ESO in 2020 and the new plant successfully became operational in early 2022. This new technology is part of a world first approach to managing grid stability, providing the same stability service as the traditional plants but with no emissions and at a lower overall cost.