The Engineer

C2I 2023 Energy & Environment Winner: Distributed Restart

In-Depth

The winner of this year’s energy and environment category explored how distributed energy sources - including renewables - could be used to restart the power grid in the event of a nationwide blackout.

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Category: Energy & Environment
Headline Sponsor: Babcock International Group
Project: Distributed ReStart~
Partners: National Grid ESO with SP Energy Networks, TNEI Consultancy

What happens if the power goes down?  It may sound a slightly doom-mongerish question, but in an increasingly volatile world it’s a question that it’s worth having an answer for. And whilst total shutdown of the power network is extremely unlikely (it’s never happened in the UK) it’s essential that if it does happen we have the capability to reboot the UK power grid as quickly as possible. 

Unsurprisingly, the conventional approach to a so-called “black-start” is underpinned by large fossil fuelled power stations able to generate enough power to restart the network. But as the UK moves to cleaner, greener and more decentralised energy sources, energy operators are having to explore new options.

The winner of this year’s Energy and Environment category - the Distributed ReStart project - represents a hugely ambitious and successful attempt to get to grips with this challenge.

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