Creating Consensus in Grid Modernization: How NREL Tends a Garden of Energy System Standards
September 24, 2021 -- With its cutting-edge research capabilities and technical leadership, NREL has a history of developing essential standards that strengthen energy systems around the world. Now, NREL is once again clearing the way for the next wave of energy innovations by leading the development of new standards in subjects like cybersecurity, renewables, microgrids, blockchain, and more.
A Brief History: How an NREL-Led Standard Kickstarted Grid Modernization
At the end of 1999, one technical challenge loomed larger than Y2K across the United States: New power devices were connecting to the electric system in increasingly large numbers. Solar panels, microturbines, and wind turbines were appearing with great diversity in their designs, which had become a matter of both contention and potential hazard with every new device interconnected.
To smooth the technical bumps, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) collaborated with the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) to fast-track a standard for the incoming technologies. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) led the effort, and after three years of exhaustive consensus-building among hundreds of stakeholders from various industry groups, IEEE published the standard 'IEEE 1547-2003: Standard for Interconnecting Distributed Resources with Electric Power Systems.' The NREL researchers who first led the work have reflected on the effort behind this early grid standard and its importance to modern energy systems.
IEEE Standard 1547 issued the first technical guidance on what constitutes safe and consistent interconnection for distributed energy resources (DERs). In 2005, the standard became part of U.S. electric grid policy as part of the Energy Policy Act. Finally, industry, utilities, and researchers were on the same footing, and DERs flourished. The standard a succinct booklet of technical specifications became the bedrock for DER industries that are now commonplace, such as solar and wind inverters.
No Sleep for Standards
A common thread in standards is that the work is never over. Following the publication of the popular base standard IEEE 1547, new energy innovations surfaced, requiring a fresh look at how to bring the technologies into the fold. In turn, IEEE 1547 was also revisited to stay on top of a continually evolving technological ecosystem.
'We want to address the many different sides of the standards landscape that support grid modernization,' said David Narang, principal engineer at NREL and working group chair of IEEE 1547's recent revision. 'If we find ways to implement new technologies safely together, then we will see that we have a lot more resources to work with.'
The standards landscape that NREL is stewarding is like a neat garden. It has partitions, it is purposefully maintained, and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. In this sense, NREL is tending a garden of grid modernization, so that each technology or concept contributes to a full field of energy innovation.
But like gardening, upkeep does not come easy. A 100-some-page standard conceals an intense effort, with mass coordination among hundreds of stakeholders, dedicated research infrastructure, standout scientific leadership, and revision after revision. For example, IEEE 1547 has gone through the wringer of testing, including on the Hawaiian Islands where utilities explored 1547 to its limits and then worked with NREL to update the standard to accommodate stable growth in solar. As a result, NREL led a full revision of IEEE 1547, which published in 2018.
NREL also maintains extensive training materials to become familiar with the updated standard. 'We can help states apply the grid interconnection standard and adopt its technical requirements to their own systems,' said Michael Ingram, a principle research engineer at NREL. 'At this point, we have experience with how IEEE 1547 is being implemented in practice, so we want to provide confidence to other regulators and utilities about how to safely connect more DERs.' As an example of this work, Ingram and Narang recently provided support to the state of Michigan in updating their solar interconnection rules.
NREL has also led the development of IEEE Standard 1547.1, the testing companion to the base 1547 standard, under the leadership of Senior Research Engineer Andy Hoke. Meanwhile, 1547 has given rise to other companion standards for particular technology areas 1547.2, 1547.3, and up through 1547.9 many of which NREL has contributed to. For example, 1547.4 provided early interconnection guidance for islanded systems, better known as microgrids, under the leadership of NREL Power Systems Engineering Center Director Ben Kroposki as working group chair. And 1547.3 introduced guidance around information exchange and communication of distributed energy systems, with a recent focus on DER cybersecurity. Each of these standards are also subject to periodic review and revision.
'We want the standards landscape to interoperate safely and securely, with technical requirements that can be implemented reliably,' Narang said. 'At the end of the day, that's how all these standards tie together.'
Daunting as it is, NREL continues to lead the technical pathfinding that results in functional co-operation of energy systems. Recently, NREL's standards work has followed from breakthrough research in the laboratory, where both large-scale collaborations and pioneering R&D are pointing to new technical requirements for emerging trends.
Read the full story here.
Source: NREL
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