At 1:41 am on the 15th February AEMO market Notice 114740 alerted us to a high forecast level of distributed PV (i.e. rooftop PV) triggering contingency Level 1.
A forecast high level of distributed PV between 12:30 and 14:00 on the 15th meant there was an elevated risk of disconnection of PV systems to keep aggregate generation levels within the secure operating limit.
The market notice (now cancelled):
MARKET NOTICE 114740 ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Notice ID 114740 Notice Type ID Reserve Contract / Direction / Instruction Notice Type Description MARKET Issue Date Thursday, 15 February 2024 External Reference DPV Contingency 1 (DPVC1) in the SA Region on 15/02/2024 ________________________________________________________________________________________________ AEMO ELECTRICITY MARKET NOTICE AEMO has detected there is an elevated risk of the contingent disconnection of Distributed PV (DPV) which, together with the risk of loss of scheduled generation, exceeds secure thresholds in the South Australia region from 1230 hrs 15/02/2024 to 1400 hrs 15/02/2024. Maximum DPV generation forecast by the Australian Solar Energy Forecasting System 2 (ASEFS2) is 1737 MW at 1330 hrs and the secure ASEFS2 DPV generation limit for the forecast operating conditions is 1796 MW. AEMO is seeking a market response. An insufficient market response may require AEMO to take action or intervene to maintain power system security in South Australia. This may result in action such as the recall of planned outages, direction of scheduled generation, curtailment of non-scheduled wind generation, and an instruction / direction to maintain DPV generation below a secure DPV generation threshold. AEMO estimates the latest time at which it may need to intervene through an AEMO intervention event is 1130 hrs on 15/02/2024. Manager NEM Real Time Operations
We note the above situation is now cancelled because, at 05:15, a new market notice advised us of the cancellation of the Distributed PV Contingency situation. It is not clear from the market notice whether the cancellation was due to a lower PV forecast, or higher demand levels, or whether other market or network changes had occurred.
MARKET NOTICE 114741 ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Notice ID 114741 Notice Type ID Reserve Contract / Direction / Instruction Notice Type Description MARKET Issue Date Thursday, 15 February 2024 External Reference Cancellation of Distributed PV Contingency 1 (DPVC1) in the SA Region on 15/02/2024 ________________________________________________________________________________________________ AEMO ELECTRICITY MARKET NOTICE Cancellation - DPVC1 - SA Region Refer Market Notice 114740 The DPVC1 condition for 15/02/2024 is cancelled at 0510 hrs 15/02/2024. Manager NEM Real Time Operations
An example of what could have happened, if the forecast updates had been higher rather than lower and or the situation had persisted, was captured at WattClarity in November 2022:
Curtailment of distributed PV occurring in South Australia on Thursday 17th November 2022
From the market notices on that day, and AEMO information, we are reminded that there are three Contingency levels which relate to:
Level 1: Forecast potential Contingency (or Minimum System Load event) and seeking a market response.
Level 2: Advise action has been taken to maintain system security.
Level 3: Notify that curtailment of rooftop solar PV is occurring as a last resort because preceding actions have not been sufficient to maintain power system security.
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