Type of equipment tested

INTEGRATION – HARMONISATION – IMPLEMENTATION

You must obtain all of the above when importing electricity-generation equipment into the United Kingdom.

This is now much more difficult, as all the implementation areas mentioned above are now governed by the Engineering Regulations G99/2, and without complying with these regulations, the equipment will not be granted a parallel grid connection.

The G99/2 regulations are designed to address all aspects of the connection process, from functional standards to on-site commissioning, ensuring that Customers, Manufacturers, and Generators are aware of the requirements that will be set by the local Distribution Network Operator (DNO) before the power plant is approved for connection to the Distribution Network.

The guidelines provided under G99/2 are intended to facilitate the connection of Power-Generation Modules while maintaining the integrity of the Distribution Network, both in terms of safety and supply quality. They apply to all Power-Generation Modules falling under Section 2, regardless of the type of electrical machine and equipment used to convert any primary energy source into electrical energy.

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Developers and Suppliers of Equipment

Developers and suppliers of electrical equipment must be aware of the new G99/2 regulations to ensure that their products are capable of meeting these high-performance requirements.

And this is where Applecoat Ltd can simplify the process for any importer from any country: we can obtain Type-Testing for your equipment and register it with the relevant authorities. We can also establish connectivity with any UK Distribution Network Operator.

As part of our service package, we can also carry out any required on-site witness tests, which Distribution Network Operators may request even after full Type-Testing has been completed, as they have the authority to require such tests.

A type-tested Interface Protection device has its protection settings defined during manufacturing. The regulations define type-tested equipment as "products that have been tested to ensure that the design meets the relevant requirements of G99/2." All similar products will be built to the same rigorous standards and meet the same performance levels.

Interface-protection systems that are not type-tested will require additional tests and measurements to assure the regulator that the protection in use is sufficiently robust.

When fully understanding the G99/2 regulations, it is also necessary to consider all the following areas in which UK Distribution Network Operators show growing interest — as shown below.

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Frequency-Response Requirements

Generators must now control their active power in response to frequency changes on the grid. Frequency-response requirements are divided into two modes:
• Limited Frequency Sensitive Mode (LFSM)
• Frequency Sensitive Mode (FSM)

The Limited Frequency Sensitive Mode requires generators to reduce their active power (MW) if the frequency exceeds 50.4 Hz and increase it if the frequency falls below 49.5 Hz.

The Frequency Sensitive Mode (FSM) is a more demanding requirement for larger generators and requires the installation of a fast-acting proportional frequency-control device capable of responding to frequency variations and rapidly increasing or decreasing active power by 10%.

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Fault Ride-Through Requirements

Generators with output above 1 MW must now remain connected to the grid when significant voltage dips occur due to faults on the network. This is known as fault ride-through capability and prevents network blackouts by ensuring that other generation sites are not lost if one site trips due to a fault.

The depth of the voltage dip through which a generator must remain stable varies according to generator size, with larger generators required to withstand a complete voltage loss for 140 ms.

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Requirements for Fast Fault-Current Injection

Generators above 1 MW must also support the system during a fault by rapidly injecting reactive current to prevent grid voltage from falling too low. This capability helps prevent the loss of additional consumers and generation sites during faults by keeping the grid voltage as high as possible for as long as possible.

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Voltage-Control Requirements

The G99/2 regulation requires generators to have a voltage-control system capable of injecting or absorbing reactive power into the network to control voltage. The Distribution Network Operator will instruct the generator to operate in one of the following three modes:
• Voltage Control
• Reactive-Power Control
• Power-Factor Control

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Reactive-Power Capability

Reactive-power capability requirements for generators have also been improved. For Power-Generation Modules between 1 MW and 10 MW operating at registered capacity, they must be able to operate continuously between a lagging power factor of 0.95 and a leading power factor of 0.95 at the connection point.

Larger generators have specific reactive-power capability windows within which they must be able to operate (at all points).

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Applecoat Ltd can obtain Type-Test approval as well as provide advice for any import of power-generation equipment you intend to bring into the United Kingdom.

If you simply need more training and general information regarding the G99/2 or G98/1-2 regulations, we recommend visiting our online training portal, where you can view the information in English, German, French, Spanish, or Italian.