If you are in the Indian wind power sector, you would have definitely heard the terms IEGC and RRF often.
IEGC stands for Indian Electricity Grid Code, while RRF stands for Renewable Regulatory Fund.
Why are these two terms important in the context of wind power?
Wind power being a highly volatile source of power generation (with big swings in output over time), there have to be mechanisms to ensure that large amounts of such (relatively) unpredictable power supply to the grid does not result in grid failure. The optimal grid frequency has to be 50 Hz, and significant deviations from this (either up or down) has the potential to bring the whole grid crashing down (the recent blackout in north India, the largest ever recorded anywhere in the world), was a result of the frequency going down dramatically owing to unscheduled overdrawal from states such as UP.
A sustainable framework to elegantly incorporate wind power within the grid is to have grid codes, which, when adhered to can make a significant difference to the stability of the grid.
Our specialty focus areas include
On RRF, this is a solution that is being suggested in order to ensure that the both the wind power plant and the utility that buys the wind power share in the losses and risks that result from the unpredictability in wind power generation. The mechanism essentially requires the wind power plants to provide a forecast of their output for the day ahead. Based on this forecast, the wind power plant is provided a small tolerance band around the estimate for which they are not penalized. Output outside of the tolerance limits result in the wind power plant getting paid according to the price that is paid for the power generated, which could be at times very low (and even zero!).
I would like industry experts and professionals to have a discussion on how IEGC and RRF could make (or not make) a difference to the smooth integration of wind power into the Indian electricity grid.
An interesting web resource for those keen on knowing more about RRF – Link
