New York pays $2.2m for DERMS research

  • January 4, 2021
  • Steve Rogerson

The New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA) has awarded the Electric Power Research Institute (Epri), Schneider Electric, General Electric and Smarter Grid Solutions $2.2m to develop smart grid technology.

The funding will be used to develop a distributed energy resource management system (DERMS) to mitigate potential issues caused by integrating distributed energy resources (DER) with the electric grid.

The money comes from NYSERDA’s Smart Grid Innovation programme, as part of New York’s overall strategy to achieve New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s goal of a zero emission electricity sector by 2040.

The project includes a pilot programme deployed with Central Hudson Gas & Electric to develop and demonstrate a scalable system that enables a large quantity of DER to be integrated into transmission and distribution systems.

“Epri is proud to spearhead this effort to develop a control framework for utilities to manage challenges brought on by integrating high amounts of DER,” said Daniel Brooks, Epri vice president. “Epri is implementing this critical pilot programme, and we are developing the requirements for technologies and protocols for DERMS to communicate with DER successfully and securely.”

The research seeks to address potential problems to integrating more DER into the electric grid, such as power quality, overload to distribution and transmission grid components, and over-voltages. The project will also demonstrate how DERMS can be integrated with existing utility back office systems. The results should help utilities integrate higher capacities of renewable energy resources while ensuring reliable, safe, and affordable power to customers.

“As we work to implement governor Cuomo’s nation-leading goals, collaborative projects like this are helping New York state to advance technology needed to ensure that the electric grid has the capacity to integrate and deploy clean energy in a safe and cost-effective way,” said John Lochner, NYSERDA vice president. “We are eager to learn from this research project and pilot programme to further inform efforts as we ramp-up renewable energy distribution across the state.”

The three companies – Schneider Electric, General Electric and Smarter Grid Solutions – offer insights into operating experiences and best practices with DERMS, distribution management systems and energy management systems. These diverse experiences will allow for the project’s combined results to provide a broad range of lessons for DER and grid management across the entire power industry while providing specific results for Central Hudson Gas & Electric.

“We’re at an exciting and critical moment as we work towards achieving New York state’s ambitious clean energy goals,” said Ryan Hawthorne, assistant vice president at Central Hudson Gas & Electric. “This research initiative will help overcome potential challenges with DER while also ensuring the quality and reliability of service that our customers expect.”

New York’s decarbonisation goals and statewide scale-up of renewable energy resources, such as wind and solar, require increasing the existing electric grid’s capabilities while reducing distribution costs to the consumer and reducing the need for system upgrades.

Epri is helping the industry on DERMS research and development through initiatives such as the DERMS interest group and the TSO/DSO coordination working group for DER management. Through these activities, Epri continues to serve utilities, ISOs and technology providers by developing well-vetted, consensus requirements for DERMS that are widely used by the industry.

Epri will extend participation in this initiative to other utilities with the introduction of a supplemental project designed to help set a repeatable framework for utilities to handle operational challenges of integrating DER actively using DERMS technology.

Epri is a tax-exempt, non-profit organisation that conducts research and development relating to the generation, delivery and use of electricity for the benefit of the public. An independent organisation, it brings together its scientists and engineers as well as experts from academia and industry to help address problems in electricity, including reliability, efficiency, health, safety and the environment. Members represent more than 90 per cent of the electricity generated and delivered in the USA; international participation extends to nearly 40 countries. Epri’s principal offices and laboratories are in California, North Carolina, Tennessee and Massachusetts.