The European energy market faces an ever-growing challenge of managing renewable energy exchanges across borders, given the increasing volatility of wind and solar power production. At LF Energy Summit 2024, Nicolas Omont from Artelys and Philippe Edwards from RTE presented how OpenRAO, an open source tool, helps optimize these energy flows and enhance cross-border capacity. A summary of the session follows, and the full video is at the end of this post.
The Importance of Cross-Border Energy Flows
Interconnected European countries like France and Spain benefit from cross-border energy exchanges. Power flows dynamically between them based on demand, economic activity, and renewable energy generation. For instance, in the evening, power may flow from France to Spain as dinner times vary between the two nations. Similarly, renewable energy production – such as wind or solar – may shift power flows in different directions throughout the day.
Optimizing these flows is crucial to ensuring the most efficient use of renewable energy and avoiding overloading power lines. However, because energy generation and demand constantly change, it requires real-time adjustments to maintain optimal grid performance. This is where the OpenRAO tool comes into play.
How OpenRAO Works
OpenRAO is a powerful optimization tool designed to maximize the capacity of cross-border power flows, particularly between France and Spain. It selects remedial actions such as topology adjustments (reconfiguring how lines connect), redispatching (adjusting power generation), and using phase-shifting transformers (PSTs) to better balance loads across the grid.
There are two main uses of OpenRAO within the European energy market:
- Capacity Calculation: Ensuring maximum energy transfer between countries by calculating the available capacity of grid lines, considering current and forecasted conditions.
- Security Analysis: Ensuring the grid operates securely by analyzing various potential contingencies, such as unexpected outages or overloads, and mitigating them.
These calculations are done regularly due to the fluctuating nature of power flows, requiring continual adjustments rather than long-term static solutions.
Tackling Congestion and Overloads
OpenRAO helps solve two major issues:
- Congestion: When too much power flows through a particular line, creating bottlenecks.
- Overloads: When power exceeds a line’s capacity, risking damage to the grid.
By simulating different grid configurations and identifying the best remedial actions, OpenRAO prevents overloads and optimizes energy transfer without exceeding safe limits.
The Benefits of OpenRAO
The session highlighted significant gains from using OpenRAO. For instance, in one case study, it allowed RTE to increase cross-border transfer capacity by 800 megawatts. This optimization resulted in a substantial financial benefit – up to €4.9 million in a short period – by preventing congestion and utilizing both topological actions and PSTs.
Additionally, the open source nature of OpenRAO enables greater collaboration and contributions from external partners. Under the governance of LF Energy’s PowSyBl umbrella, OpenRAO’s roadmap is openly discussed, reflecting a commitment to transparency and community involvement.
Future of OpenRAO in European Grid Optimization
OpenRAO continues to expand across various European regions. It is already operational in several capacity calculation regions (CCR) such as CORE and Italy North. The tool’s advanced computational abilities allow for real-time optimization across vast grid systems, incorporating complex algorithms, contingency analysis, and linear optimization techniques.
By distributing its computations and leveraging modern solvers, OpenRAO ensures the European grid can handle the increased demand for renewable energy flows, making it an indispensable tool for TSOs (Transmission System Operators) and DSOs (Distribution System Operators).
