SPECIAL REPORT
INGENIEUR
Impact of Disruptive Technologies on Malaysia ’ s Future Energy Scenario ( Part 2 )
By Ir . Dr Amir Basha Ismail
3 . Impact of Disruptive Technologies on Malaysia ’ s Future Energy Security
As discussed in Section 2 ( see The Ingenieur Vol 86 , Part 1 ), the question of Malaysia ’ s future energy security must necessarily address the electricity demand-generation balance as part of its national energy policy agenda . This overarching national energy policy depends on the ability to secure primary fuels ( a mix of gas and coal ) for the development and operation of centralised large-scale electricity generating stations and the associated high-voltage transmission and distribution power grid .
Reliable power system operation requires the continuous balance of supply and demand at every moment in time . Power system planners and operators who have been working with conventional electricity power grid systems with centralised large-scale fossil-fuelled power plants are quite familiar with a certain amount of variability and uncertainty , particularly with regard to system demand . Depending on the season and weather conditions , demand can fluctuate significantly over a single day , week , or month . For example in the Malaysian power system grid , the extensive use of electricity for air-conditioning loads creates a relationship between increase in electricity demand with increase in temperature amounting close to 1000MW per ° C rise . In addition to meeting this variability requirements , there is always some inherent uncertainty about future power demand and future availability of generators . The power system must thus be able to manage both variability and uncertainty .
Today , various combinations of hydro and thermal generation are used to manage variability and these operate as a portfolio to meet demand . Each generator has various characteristics , but the most important one for this article relates to flexibility .
Daily and weekly patterns of system demand often involve short-term forecasting . Knowing the time horizon over which significant ramps ( MW per minute ) take place , such as during the morning demand rise , has allowed operators to plan and implement effective strategies for flexibility .
Traditionally , long-term resource planning with conventional thermal and hydro generation requires little information about the variability of the net demand / load in time scales of minutes to days , whereas characterising the daytime cycle is an important feature of day-ahead operational generation dispatch planning . Power system planners / operators are quite familiar with the ‘ system needs ’ in order to ensure that the balance between supply and demand is maintained continuously by refining the generation output and demand delivered by the wholesale electricity market .
These ‘ system needs ’ in the order they are required from real time are :
● System Inertia and Rate of Change of Frequency ( RoCoF )
● Frequency Response
● Reserve
● Reactive Power / Voltage Support
● Blackstart System Inertia comes from the rotational energy stored in the synchronous generators of
58 VOL 87 JULY-SEPTEMBER 2021