Few battery plants connected to Portugal’s transmission grid, or rated at 45 MW or more, must provide grid-forming capability and synthetic inertia under a new regulatory ordinance. Plants of 500 kW or more must also switch automatically from charging to discharging when grid frequency falls.
The rules took effect on Oct. 23 and apply to connection requests filed from that date. Existing plants are covered only if they undergo a significant expansion, modernization or equipment replacement.
The ordinance, signed by Jean Paulo Gil Barroca, Portugal’s secretary of state for energy, applies the requirements for generating units under the EU network code on requirements for generators to storage, whether plants are discharging, charging or powering their own auxiliary systems.
The grid-forming obligation also covers plants connected at 110 kV or above, on terms the grid operators will set. The ordinance extends it to plants of 10 MW to 45 MW, although its technical annex ties the obligation for that class to provisions in grid capacity titles, permits or tender documents.
Smaller plants must provide grid-forming capability only where those documents require it. Plants on the distribution grid must also be able to operate in grid-following mode, with the operator deciding which mode applies.
The technical parameters are based on a joint report by the European transmission and distribution operator bodies ENTSO-E and the EU DSO Entity, industry associations SolarPower Europe, WindEurope and Energy Storage Europe, and the standards body CENELEC. 5 Hz and rates of change of up to 2 Hz per second.
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