Distributed Energy

Resources Integration

RMEL Spring Conference

May 21, 2018

Douglas L. Marx, PE
Director, Engineering
1
Over A Century of Progress

2
Distributed Energy Resources
• Solar photovoltaic systems
• Energy storage systems
• Fuel cells
• Wind turbines
• Micro turbines
• Stirling engines

3
Reshaping the Power System
• Consumers becoming energy producers
• Loads becoming more interactive and dynamic
• Generation becoming more flexible
• T&D becoming more controllable and resilient

4
Industry At A Crossroad
• The way people buy and use
electricity is transforming

• Expectation of customer choice

is growing

• High customer expectation to

balance commitment to deploy
more renewable resources and
maintain low energy prices

5
Welcome to my mind …
Please fasten your seat belt and
keep your arms and legs in at
all times. Don’t feed
the animals, drink
the water or talk
to the voices.
Enjoy the ride!
6
Can Solar Defer New Facilities?
• Customer use is growing
• New power plants, substations
and power lines are needed to
meet growing customer use
• New power plants and power
lines are costly
• Study the ability of rooftop
solar to defer new power
plants, substations and power
lines

7
Rooftop Solar

• It all started with a LiDAR study …

8
Solar Contribution to Peak
Northeast #16
August 2, 2010
4.50
4.00
3.50
3.00

~7% reduction
2.50
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50
Best case solar
0.00
6:00 am 9:00 am Noon 3:00 pm 6:00 pm 9:00 pm
Customer Use Solar Production

9
Solar Growth in Utah

8,786 MW

Non-Net Metering Projects

Under Review

859 MW

Non-Net Metering Projects

In Service (Since 2011)

10
Voltage Regulation and Flicker
• Steady state voltage and flicker
• Voltage excursions and regulator cycling
• Line drop compensator interactions
• Reverse power flow interactions

Solar Production
June 26, 2014
(5 minute intervals)
100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%
0630
0710
0750
0830
0910
0950
1030
1110
1150
1230
1310
1350
1430
1510
1550
1630
1710
1750
1830
1910
1950
2030
11
Contribution to Peak Load

12
Net Zero Energy

Net Energy -–April

Customer Load Requirements July 13
11 Gross Solar Production
3.0
6.0 6.0 2.66
2.0 5.00
5.0 5.0
1.0
4.0 4.0
0.0
2.90 4.52

kW
3.0 3.0
kW

-1.0
-2.0
2.0 2.0
-3.0 1.01 2.51
1.0 1.0
-4.0
0.0
-5.0
4.27 0.0
April 11 July 13 Delivered Received April 11 July 13

13
Neighborhood Solar
Circuit Information
• Circuit: Bingham #11
• Houses: 1642
• Summer Peak : 9.5 MW
Model Assumptions
• Panel Rating: 250 Watt
• Panel Size: 1m x 1.6m
Rooftop Solar Capacity
14000 3
Modeling Results 12000 2.5
Number pf solar panels 10000
• Total Panels: 42,439 2

Megawatts
8000
1.5
• Nameplate Capacity: 9 MW 6000
4000
1

2000 0.5
0 0
Flat East West North South

Adjusted Number of Panels Installed AC Capacity

14
 Megawatts

-4
-2
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
0:00
0:30
1:00
1:30
2:00
2:30
3:00
3:30
4:00
4:30
5:00
5:30
6:00
6:30
7:00
7:30
8:00
8:30

Circuit Loading without solar

9:00
9:30
Circuit peak reduction = 3.75%

10:00
10:30
11:00
11:30
12:00
12:30
13:00

Total Solar
13:30
14:00
14:30
15:00
15:30
Distribution Circuit Loading

16:00
16:30
17:00
17:30
18:00
18:30
19:00
19:30
20:00
20:30
Bingham #11 Circuit Loading

21:00
21:30
22:00
22:30
New Circuit Loading with solar

23:00
23:30
15
System Energy Flows and Losses
Total Energy Flow Energy Loss
7,168 kWh
136 kWh

85 kWh
3,556 kWh

BASE CASE NET ZERO BASE CASE NET ZERO

Delivered Received Losses Xfmr Delivered Received

16
Managing the Risks
 Distribution Equipment
• Regulator and capacitor controls
• Line drop compensation
• Reactive power
 Protection and Control
• Increased fault levels
• Breaker, fuse and recloser coordination
• Effective grounding
 Additional Costs
• Engineering and operating costs
• Planning study complexity and frequency
 New and Evolving Technologies
• Smart Inverters
• Energy storage

17
 Having an Interconnection Standard is
IMPORTANT!
• IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) Standards Board published IEEE 1547
standard on in April 2018
• Utilities may have to adapt the new requirements to their particular grid
conditions to fully exploit the new standard’s capabilities
• Distributed generation and energy storage systems certified for compliance
with the revised IEEE 1547 may become available as early as the 2019-2020
timeframe

18
Transforming challenges into solutions
• DER and the grid are not competitors but are complementary.
• Experience in Germany provides a useful case study.
• Increased adoption of distributed resources requires communication.

DER Challenges Solutions

Technical  Not designed for bi-directional energy
 System Overload and Voltage Control
 Intermittency and Reliability
Business  DER Planning
 Commissioning and Dispatch
 Interconnection Processing
 Customer Engagement
 Smart Inverters and Sensors
 New Interconnection Standards
 Hosting Capacity Analysis
 Enhanced DER Control
 Proactive DER Planning
 Accurate DER Forecasting and Impact on Load
Profile
 Advanced Distribution Management System
 Data Analytics

19
It’s a New Era for Electricity

20