This is perhaps best illustrated by California. DERs have changed that, forcing TSOs to contend with reverse energy flows from residential solar, as well as renewable energy assets connected on low to medium voltage levels, new load profiles, and distribution infrastructure ill-suited to capture the value of DERs.Įven on progressive grids that clear the runway for DER installations, SOs are finding it difficult to fold DERs value into the power system.
Historically a manageable task-more streamlined, even-with limited visibility required of what’s happening at the distribution level. TSOs are responsible for operating the grid as a holistic system. System Operators’ Big DER Opportunity: Engineering a New System
But SOs must also restructure the role of DERs on the grid, better utilizing their power flow management potential to improve grid reliability. This will come in part from shifting the relationships between transmission system operators (TSOs) and distribution system operators (DSOs).
Enhancing system resiliency during extreme eventsįor this to happen, SOs-especially in market areas with unbundled roles-must first gain better visibility into the DERs on their grid. Reducing reliance on utility-scale generation assets. Their flexibility potential can be harnessed to help SOs keep power flowing across the transmission and distribution system by: While some may see DERs as a challenge, they are just as much a solution to the challenge of keeping pace with the grid’s changing structure. SOs must now manage new levels of volatility in frequency and voltage, secure local minimum inertia, and more while operating a grid dominated by inverter-driven technologies. This has the potential to fundamentally change load patterns in an unpredictable and uncontrollable manner for system operators. While many of these DERs are installed by residential, commercial and industrial building owners primarily for on-site optimization and not grid services, they may also act as “prosumers”, exporting excess energy and services back to the grid. Where they have been grid-integrated at all, they’ve been connected to the distribution network but not actively managed by distribution Network Operators (DNOs). These assets have historically been far too small for SOs to engage with. Smart buildings, electric vehicles, and more are becoming commonplace as well. The rise of distributed energy resources (DERs) has left power grid system operators (SO) with a puzzle to solve: how can they maintain grid stability when power is increasingly being generated outside of their direct visibility?ĭERs primarily consist of residential (<1-5 MW) and small-scale solar and storage assets, connected to the distribution grid or even behind the meter. If you’re new to the series, read our overview of each of the challenges and catch up on TSOs' first two challenges: intermittency and congestion and weakening grid stability. #Your first response to reduced visibility should be series
This is the third deep dive in our series on the five challenges TSOs will face in 2022 and beyond.
0 kommentar(er)
