There is more pressure than ever on power generation companies to increase output, and many organizations are finding that the best way to do so is to find new, nontraditional ways to accomplish increased throughput. As a result, the world is seeing a major shift in the way power is being delivered. The modern power grid is not the same architecture that it was just a decade ago. Distributed energy resources (DERs) are creating a paradigm shift that will dramatically change how power companies operate in the coming years.
Rick Kephart explores this transition in his recent article in Control Engineering magazine. Rick explains that DERs cannot just be added to the grid with no forethought. Intentionality is key when leveraging DERs to avoid creating unwieldy architectures, reliability issues, and cybersecurity concerns. He suggests, in fact, that an emerging solution is key to helping teams navigate these challenges:
“A hierarchical architecture based on grid edge controllers acting as DER gateways. Such a system provides local aggregation points and control at the edge for high-speed DER applications, and it seamlessly integrates into grid management and DERMS solutions for continuous centralized control and visibility.”
Bringing distributed energy resources together
DERs are not traditional generation entities. In many cases, DERs, such as solar panel arrays, are smaller generators that are connected to the distribution side of the grid rather than the generation side. Typically, this means they’re not managed by the utility. However, the utilities still need visibility into such assets. Accomplishing that goal can be complex.
“DERs come in a wide array of sizes, formats, manufacturers, and vintages, making it difficult to directly connect them to DERMS in the ADMS. As the grid continues to grow, it quickly becomes difficult or impossible to manage all those connections and devices separately. Teams need a control hierarchy that allows them to group the higher-speed, lower-level assets together for easier management.”
Grid edge controllers, like those Emerson’s Ovation™ Automation Platform, collect data from a wide array of DERs and aggregate that information, bringing it back to the control room for enhanced visibility. The gateway is effectively plug-and-play, making it easy to bring every DER directly into the advanced distribution management system (ADMS).
More reliable, secure operation
The DER architecture creates far more resilient and reliable operations. It helps avoid the risk—inherent in traditional architectures—that when a failure occurs, the operations and maintenance teams must spend precious time first tracking down the source of the problem across a web of complex custom connections before they can begin to address the issue. A grid edge controller-based solution circumvents that extra work
“In a hierarchical system using DER gateways, system reliability is improved. When the assets on the lowest layers fail, the ADMS can work around that single connection to the failing DER gateway until it is resolved, reducing points of failure and increasing uptime, along with the ability to deliver adequate power.”
And grid edge controllers also deliver increased security. Most DERs have limited built-in security, leaving the distributed energy management system (DERMS) to manage the majority of security. This means communication between DERs and DERMS or ADMS could easily be compromised. Ovation grid edge controllers have significantly more processing power than most DER systems, making it possible to embed modern cybersecurity technologies, and to keep the systems updated more easily.
As utilities have to contend with an increasing number of DERs out in the wild, they will need better tools to manage that complex architecture to insure visibility and reliable, secure operations. Implementing grid edge management to help facilitate that coming scale up and scale out will significantly reduce complexity of operation, helping ensure the reliable production and distribution customers expect.
