Scottish wind farm re-energises electricity grid

ScottishPower Renewables (SPR) is claiming a global first – using energy from a 69 MW onshore windfarm to re-energise part of the power grid. The success of the project, at Dersalloch wind farm in South Ayrshire, proves that wind power can restore a ‘blacked-out’ section of the transmission network, says SPR. 

‘Black start’ restoration – the procedure used to restore power in the event of a total or partial shutdown of the electricity transmission system – is often reliant on traditional fossil fuels such as coal and gas. So, using renewables to do this is both an extraordinary achievement and a demonstration with potential to transform how power could be restored to the network. 

It used ‘grid-forming’ technology, virtual synchronous machines (VSM), to regulate the frequency and voltage of the power from the turbines – essentially forming a stable network island to keep the electricity system stable and balanced. The same technology was then used to integrate that supply with the grid and restore the part of the system that had been blacked out.