Authors: Casey Baker and Priya Sreedharan
Twice a year, GridLab looks forward to joining the Energy Systems Integration Group (ESIG) technical workshops, which provide a space for grid practitioners to collaborate and debate about rigorous technical topics. Three members of the GridLab team joined the spring workshop this year, which included GridLab staff and experts presenting on high-performance conductor work, innovative modeling approaches, and large load interconnections. These workshops generate discussions, takeaways, and questions that last all year.
These are GridLab’s top takeaways that will top of mind as we spend the year tackling some of the grid’s most interesting challenges. Presentations and discussions on these topics are also available on EGIS’s website and YouTube channel. The team is already looking forward to the fall workshop!
Distributed Energy
- Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) can be transformative resources for both bulk and distribution benefits, but require attention to software and protocols. While successful VPPs may use traditional program pathways (such as DR), they tend to have better Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems (DERMS) and Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS) integrations.
- A key “success” ingredient for demand flexibility is building trust with customers; 80% of Octopus’ demand flexibility value comes from managing customer thermostats, which does not happen without trust.
- In the Distributed Energy Resource (DER) integration for transmission and distribution services session, we were reminded of the importance of breaking down utility silos, particularly between planners and program departments. Planners can’t build to DERs unless they can count on the resources to show up.
- On a question of technology for DER integration, speakers noted that the technologies are there for data and visibility, but adoption lags and the ability to talk to small DERs is low because of inconsistency in the field.
Planning and Modeling
- A useful framework for integrated planning is walk> jog> run. The walking step is simply to get different types of planners (distribution, transmission, generation) to interact. Then you can move onto jogging- aligning inputs. Finally, you’re off and running by coordinated modeling.
- The workshop heavily featured roundtrip modeling. GridLab expert Derek Stenclik of Telos Energy presented along with NREL, Polaris speakers, and Kevin Carden of Astrape, another GridLab expert. Derek’s presentation featured INNOVATE, Gridlab’s modeling series, while Kevins’ presentation highlighted integrated transmission-generation planning using planning software SERVM linked to powerflow tool TARA.
- On the topic of resource adequacy, an innovative method by Salt River Project integrated climate model outputs into historical weather year profiles to analyze the effect of climate change on resource adequacy.
Transmission
- There was a lot of discussion about large loads and their impact on the transmission system. A representative from Dominion Energy described an energy event that occurred in July 2024. Following this event, industry groups are now looking at ride-through requirements for large loads to ensure that the plants are not introducing new reliability threats to existing customers. There was also discussion about the feasibility of hosting capacity maps for load.
- Several participants noted that the rapid connection of new large loads mimics the generation interconnection growing pains from the past decade and that this time the industry needs to move faster to implement standards and educate stakeholders to ensure safe interconnection of new large loads.
- Xcel Energy detailed their planning strategy for the “Grid of the Future,” emphasizing optimization across transmission and distribution through a scenario-based approach. They begin with granular, hourly forecasts, which are then aggregated and rolled up into transmission models to assess the impact of distributed load on the entire grid. Then, this bottom up load forecast is used to perform resource adequacy testing, ensuring sufficient power supply for current and future generation portfolios. Xcel employed four distinct planning scenarios: three based on state and local policy goals, and one representing their own projections, which includes considerations of the “customer of the future” with varied technology adoption assumptions, contrasting current customers with a peak load of 5 kW against future customers with a projected peak load of 16 kW driven by increased adoption of electric vehicles, heat pumps, and electric cooking.
The GridLab team will no doubt incorporate these takeaways into our projects all year!