Provision of Frequency Containment Reserve Through Large Industrial End-Users Pooling

This paper reports the recent work carried out to engage a pool of large industrial end-users in frequency control complying with the performance criteria of conventional generation. The pooling approach unites the benefits of continuous loads and staggered loads (discrete active power response). Based on a local measurement of the frequency, the primary control signal is dynamically reconstructed through a centrally managed automation infrastructure integrating the industrial constraints and the requirements of the transmission system operators (TSO). The regulation algorithm, minimizing the total number of up and down activations of the loads, as well as the regulation infrastructure, are presented and detailed. After a discussion of the practical implementation at three distant industrial sites, the response of the experimental installation of the pool is discussed through its performance measurements and assessment. From the industrial point of view, the overall regulation system is in operation, adding value to the power system and the end-users and is reported to be economically viable. The implemented entity has been certified by the French TSO RTE.