Abstract
The electrical energy system has attracted much attention from an increasingly diverse research community. Many theoretical predictions have been made, from scaling laws of fluctuations to propagation velocities of disturbances. However, to validate any theory, empirical data from large-scale power systems are necessary but are rarely shared openly. Here, we analyse an open database of measurements of electric power grid frequencies across 17 locations in 12 synchronous areas on three continents. The power grid frequency is of particular interest, as it indicates the balance of supply and demand and carries information on deterministic, stochastic, and control influences. We perform a broad analysis of the recorded data, compare different synchronous areas and validate a previously conjectured scaling law. Furthermore, we show how fluctuations change from local independent oscillations to a homogeneous bulk behaviour. Overall, the presented open database and analyses constitute a step towards more shared, collaborative energy research.
Highlights
The electrical energy system has attracted much attention from an increasingly diverse research community
We present an analysis of an open database for power-grid frequency measurements[32] recorded with an Electrical Data Recorder (EDR) across multiple synchronous areas[33,34]
Recordings were taken at local power sockets, which have been shown to give similar measurement results as that of monitoring the transmission grid with Global Positioning System (GPS) time stamps[35]
Summary
The electrical energy system has attracted much attention from an increasingly diverse research community. The energy system, and in particular the electricity system, is undergoing rapid changes due to the introduction of renewable energy sources, to mitigate climate change[1] To cope with these changes new policies and technologies are proposed[2,3], and a range of business models are implemented in various energy systems across the world[4]. Implementing renewable energy generators introduces additional fluctuations, as wind or photo-voltaic generation may vary rapidly on various timescales[9,10,11] and reduces the overall inertia available in the grid[12] These fluctuations pose new research questions on how to design and stabilise fully renewable power systems in the future. In addition to the need raised by theoretical models from the physics and mathematics community, there is a great need for open databases and analyses from an engineering perspective
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