Energy Systems Integration Newsletter: July 2022

In this edition, educational resources for applying distributed energy resource integration standards, NREL releases new cybersecurity evaluation tool, how NREL and the Federal Aviation Administration are advancing electrified aircraft, and more.

Tools for an Energy Transition: NREL's Educational Resources for Grid Interconnection

IEEE Standard 1547-2018 lays the foundation in the United States for integrating distributed energy resources (DERs) into the electric distribution grid. Since the publication of the revised standard in 2018, NREL has created an online platform with educational resources to aid stakeholders in the adoption and implementation of the standard, enabling the use of modern DER technologies such as grid-supportive inverters.

NREL's curated website includes presentations, industry white papers, and topic-specific reports for utilities, states, solar developers, transmission operators, and other stakeholders—with custom reading lists for regulators and electric power system operators. Watch the video on the educational resources for grid interconnection to learn more.

New Cybersecurity Tool Simplifies Site Evaluations

NREL has released a new cybersecurity evaluation tool, the Distributed Energy Resource Risk Manager (DER-RM), a downloadable application that implements and automates a widely trusted framework for information security from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The DER-RM, developed with support from the U.S. Department of Energy Federal Energy Management Program, offers a user-friendly solution for sites adopting more renewable energy systems that must comply with the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Risk Management Framework.

To learn more, read the story about the tool.

Federal Aviation Administration Partners With NREL for a Holistic Look at Energy Needs of Electrified Aircraft

Aviation has undergone several periods of rapid innovation in the past hundred years, and an emerging trend in electrified aircraft is pushing the industry to its next frontier. As new models of aircraft come online, the federal government continues to play a critical role in certifying airworthiness and promoting safety in the skies and on the ground. With integrated analysis from NREL, the Federal Aviation Administration can create safety standards and recommend efficient and resilient airport infrastructure to support these advanced aircraft designs.

Read more about NREL's partnership with the Federal Aviation Administration.

Reframing Curtailment: Why Too Much of a Good Thing Is Still a Good Thing

Curtailment—or what happens when more renewable energy is available than can be delivered to customers—has gained a negative connotation in the energy community for wasting clean, free electricity. In a new video, NREL explains the case for a shift in mindset, as curtailment of wind and solar can be used to improve the flexibility and reliability of the grid. The bottom line: When it comes to wind and solar generation, too much of a good thing is still a good thing.

Read about reframing curtailment as bringing value to the grid.

Consortium Frames Mission To Integrate Grid-Forming Inverters

Grid-forming inverters—a technology that allows renewables such as solar and wind to safely run the grid—are on the brink of industry adoption; now they need a game plan for rollout. The Universal Interoperability for Grid-Forming Inverters (UNIFI) Consortium is an inclusive effort to formulate that game plan for grid-forming inverters, including their technological requirements and interoperation with the grid. The first in-person UNIFI workshop took place at NREL July 21–22, where over 80 participants discussed and strategized how to harmonize progress and establish principles around grid-forming inverters.

The workshop featured open conversation around priorities for UNIFI, such as how to design inverter controls and models, where to demonstrate solutions in the field, and how to educate energy industry professionals and students about the importance of grid-forming inverters. UNIFI is currently in its first year, but the consortium of researchers, utilities, operators, and companies is looking several years out. Participants planned a variety of lab validations and system specifications, in hopes of shaping the emerging technology space as soon as possible.

Although grid-forming inverters are not yet commonly understood outside of industry, they stand to dramatically influence the trajectory of power systems, particularly as the source of future grid reliability. This larger context was noticeable at meetings earlier in the week 15 miles away in Denver, as part of the IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting, which hosted numerous sessions around grid-forming inverters. Considering the wide impact of this technology, UNIFI workshop participants agreed that coordination will be necessary with policymakers, regulators, and communities where grid-forming inverters could be especially useful.

To learn more , visit the UNIFI Consortium's YouTube channel. To get involved with UNIFI, contact Ben Kroposki.

Modeling Exactly Where Distributed Energy Resources Provide the Most Value to the Grid

Because DERs can be sited near demand, they can help meet local energy, capacity, and resilience needs; however, DER incentives are not granular enough to compensate their "locational value" or to determine when and where they provide the most value to the grid. NREL added a new capability to the Distributed Generation Market Demand (dGen™) model that calculates the potential value of distributed solar and wind systems down to the individual parcels of property for an entire region.

Learn more about the parcel-level modeling innovation.

Industry Partners Collaborate Behind Grid Edge Demonstrations

The U.S. Department of Energy has announced two projects that will use NREL's Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS) Test Bed to evaluate grid edge management solutions. One project pairs Shell and Spirae LLC to demonstrate a distributed control architecture for optimizing grid edge resources. The other matches Electrical Grid Monitoring Inc. with Israel Electric Corp. to evaluate enhanced monitoring for power system restoration.

The ADMS Test Bed will allow all project partners to validate forward-thinking grid strategies in a high-fidelity environment. Demonstrations from each project will help de-risk novel technical solutions and provide detailed data and examples for others to work from.

Read the full story about ADMS demonstrations.

Cybersecurity Innovators To Improve Authentication for Distributed Energy Systems

The Clean Energy Cybersecurity Accelerator (CECA™) is selecting solution providers that offer strong authentication for DERs in its first cohort cycle, which will kick off this fall.

Authentication is the action of verifying who an entity in the system is, and authorization refers to what actions and data they are allowed to perform and access. DERs, by their nature, introduce varied system ownership, operators, network interconnections, and control systems, which can create a larger attack surface for an adversary and necessitate strong authentication at every point.

To learn more, read the NREL article about the Cohort 1 theme for CECA.

Sheila Hayter Recognized as Senior Fellow by the New Buildings Institute

Sheila Hayter, laboratory program manager for the Federal Energy Management Program, was recently recognized as a senior fellow by the New Buildings Institute (NBI). The NBI Senior Fellows program recognizes and honors significant contributions to energy efficiency and carbon reduction in the building sector through leadership, dedication, and change-making work.

To learn more about Hayter's recognition and the NBI Senior Fellows program, visit the NBI website.

Publications Roundup

Zero Export Feeder Through Transactive Markets

Utility providers face a number of challenges in creating a transactive energy market as they increase DER adoption in their service areas. One challenge is mitigating the export back to the grid during times of excess production. In this NREL technical report, researchers implemented a transactive energy market design to ensure zero energy export. Using optimized building controls, researchers simulated different levels of DER penetration on a selected feeder. The feeder achieved zero export while providing cost-effective electricity to the participants, demonstrating that the market design could enable high DER penetrations on existing feeders.