FLEXIBLE PLUG AND PLAY PROJECT: KEY CONSIDERATIONS FOR NETWORK WIDE ROLL OUT OF ACTIVE NETWORK MANAGEMENT FOR DISTRIBUTED GENERATION CONNECTIONS

The Flexible Plug and Play (FPP) project is a UK demonstration project focused on developing smart solutions for enabling cheaper and faster Distributed Generation (DG) connections in constrained distribution networks. The project started in January 2012 and will run until December 2014. Flexible or Interruptible connections is the core method developed (and currently being tested) by the FPP project to offer renewable generators new connection agreements using latent capacity in the network, providing acceptable but not guaranteed availability of that capacity. In order to achieve that, it relies on communication/control technologies and a new commercial framework for allocating, managing and contracting the interruptible capacity. It also requires new skills/tools and process for planning the network and developing the flexible connection offers. The Flexible Plug and Play project has successfully designed a methodology for offering Flexible connections to distributed generation customers within a 700km 2 trial area in the Eastern Power Networks (EPN) distribution network license area and has contracted eight customers to connect using the technical platform and contracts developed by the project. The actual connections will take place in 2014. Furthermore, building on the evidence obtained throughout this three year project (both in terms of pull by the DG community/UKPN internal stakeholders and readiness of the solution), UK Power Networks has committed to incorporate these Flexible (defined as “interruptible” by the FPP project) DG connections as part of its RIIO ED1 Business Plan submission [1] as an alternative offering to customers. The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief update on the FPP project and provide an overview of the key activities currently being undertaken to prepare UK Power Networks for the roll out of the Flexible connections as a standard business solution.