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Topics covered by the Reliability Working Group include dynamic system modeling, grid codes/interconnection requirements as well as interconnection process and studies, interoperability of equipment and controls, system disturbances, system interactions, weak grids, low or zero inertia power systems, grid forming converters, and electrical system standards.

Members of the Reliability Working Group are encouraged to interact with one another via Groups.IO, an online discussion platform and community network. The ESIG Resource Library is also a valuable tool for those seeking information on Reliability, as well as other topics.

Links to both can be found below:

 

 

 

(Please note: only members of ESIG may participate in the Working/Users Groups. If you are interested in membership, please email us at info@esig.energy)

Working Group Chair: Dustin Howard, GE Vernova
Dustin Howard is a Technical Director with GE Vernova. Dustin has worked with GE Vernova for over 10 years, and also has experience working with National Laboratories and in other technical positions across the industry.

High Share of Inverter-Based Generation Task Force

The objective of this task force is to develop an understanding of system need and the options for stable operation of future power systems with a very high share of inverter-based generation like wind, solar and storage, and a roadmap for making the transition from the power system of today to a future one dominated by inverter-based generation, working with research organizations, OEMs, and system operators to build a consensus.

Current work underway:

  • Next Step: Exploring needs and capabilities for integration of planning processes and studies

Ongoing work:

Grid-Forming Landscape web resources: This set of webpages is continuation of the Grid-Forming Technology in Energy Systems Integration Report and tracks progress on grid-forming technology development and deployment including installed projects, specifications, modeling, and studies on the technology’s benefits.

 

 

Completed work:

Task Force Lead: Julia Matevosyan, ESIG
Julia Matevosyan is ESIG’s Chief Engineer and has more than 20 years of experience in the power industry.

Stability Project Team

Objective: The objective of this project team is to identify stability issues related to major grids reaching high levels of IBRs. The effort is centered on stability issues that are substantively altered or aggravated by the differences between IBR and synchronous resources. The project team will investigate oscillations that have been observed or are anticipated in grids with IBR, and identify gaps in our understanding that should be addressed in future R&D efforts.

Approach: There are broad systemic stability issues, such as small signal stability, first swing transient stability and voltage stability. The project team will start with consideration of the latest IEEE stability definitions, but not be unduly constrained by them. The participants will refine the current understanding with respect to high IBR systems. The project team will focus on the stability issues that are most impacted by high levels of IBR and of highest importance to the industry and system operators.

Efforts will include investigation of stability margins, metrics and indicators of approach to stability limits. The G-PST Pillar 1 Tool Inventory will be used as a starting point in the identification of tools for analysis, root cause assessment, and planning functions.

Deliverables: Deliverable will include a report summarizing the current experience, state-of-the-art understanding and gaps, and synopsis of available tools and techniques as a basis for future R&D. A policy brief summarizing the results for policy makers will be prepared, and a webinar summarizing the results for a technical audience will be presented.

Completed Work:

Project Team Lead: Nick Miller, HickoryLedge LLC
Nick Miller is an internationally known power system engineer, with specialty in integration of wind and solar generation to bulk power systems. 

Reliability Services Project Team

Objective: The objective of this project team is to identify new services needed in a power system with high levels of IBRs.

Approach: This work will draw from and build on two previous reports, the G-PST Pillar 1 System Needs and Services for Systems with High IBR Penetration report and ESIG’s Grid Forming Technology in Energy Systems Integration. The G-PST work identified how system needs are changing with increasing levels of IBRs and declining amounts of synchronous generation, while ESIG’s report developed a framework for solving a “chicken and egg” problem involving deployment of new inverters with advance controls termed grid forming.

The framework will identify a target system (in terms of target IBR penetration) with target reliability, and operating parameters; determining needs of such systems, and formulating these needs as services that are either procured through markets or required through interconnection codes. Definitions of services and methodologies to identify amounts of each service that are needed will be developed. A test system(s) will be used to conduct a number of case studies to understand when existing services become insufficient and new services are needed, and how to specify these new services.

Deliverables: A report will be prepared that summarizes the findings of this work and provides recommendations for the specification of new services and methodologies around determining service amounts.  A policy brief summarizing the results for policy makers will also be prepared, and a webinar presented that summarizes the results for a technical audience.

Project Team Lead: Deepak Ramasubramanian, EPRI
Deepak Ramasubramanian is a Technical Leader at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in the Grid Operations and Planning Group.

GFM Testing Project Team

A number of requirements for GFM capabilities have been defined with some requirements at a very high level e.g., HECO and UNIFI, while others are providing more detailed technical specifications, e.g., NESO in Great Britain in its grid code change GC0137. This project team will examine the question of how to test for such requirements and demonstrate expected performance. This project will demonstrate how to verify the expected performance from inverters with advanced controls for various high-level requirements that are being defined by the industry (using both frequency scans and time-domain characterization). The purpose of this project team is to provide more clarity to the industry on meaning of these requirements and behavior sought as well as provide some guidance on possible testing and verification procedures. It may also inform development of the future interconnection requirements for advanced inverter controls.

Project Team Lead: Shahil Shah, NREL
Shahil Shah is a senior engineer for grid integration at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, CO.

Benefits of GFM BESS Project Team

Objective: The Benefits of GFM BESS Project Team conducted detailed electromagnetic transient (EMT) studies on a real-world, interconnected power system to explore the benefits, opportunities, challenges, and considerations of adopting grid-forming (GFM) battery energy storage systems (BESS) at-scale. The studies explored, using an actual network with real models from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), the following core questions:

  • Is GFM BESS a “do no harm” solution option that provides grid-stabilizing benefits to both weak and strong areas of the grid?
  • What are the benefits or challenges of adopting GFM BESS on a widespread basis?
  • Will there be any notable interactions or interoperability challenges with GFM BESS technologies across multiple OEMs?
  • Can GFM BESS help defer more costly solution options and lead to increased integration or less curtailment of renewables?

Approach: EMT studies were conducted with a partner utility, American Transmission Co. (ATC), using their actual network and scenarios loosely based on their interconnection studies. The study team developed scenarios and sensitivities in different zones of the ATC system to explore the questions described above. The studies were held confidentially among the core study team; however, results were shared in a genericized and anonymized manner with the broader project team to help guide the study, discuss key findings, explore additional sensitivities or scenarios, and to help craft the key messages regarding findings and recommendations from this work. The project team met periodically to hold informational meetings, hear from a wide array of stakeholders, and share lessons learned.

Deliverables: Deliverables include a public informational webinar on February 4, 2025 to highlight the key findings, takeaways, and recommendations from the studies conducted. Additionally, the project team is developing and publishing a high-level policy brief intended for decision makers, policymakers, and regulatory bodies. The project team is also conducting educational outreach and briefings to key entities at the conclusion of the work.

Project Team Lead: Ryan Quint, Elevate Energy Consulting; Andrew Isaacs, Electranix Corporation
Ryan Quint is the Founder and CEO of Elevate Energy Consulting with 15 years of experience in grid dynamics, IBR risk mitigation, and energy regulation; Andrew Isaacs is Vice President at Electranix with over 20 years experience leading EMT studies and tackling some of industry’s most challenging IBR-related stability challenges.

Generation Interconnection Project Team

At the end of 2023 there were nearly 2,600 GW of generation and storage capacity in U.S. interconnection queues, twice as much capacity as is currently installed in the United States. More than 95% of the new generation in the queue is inverter-based resources (IBRs). While only about 20% to 30% of these wind, solar, and battery storage resources will materialize, they are an excellent source of cost-effective, clean electricity. However, there are multiple challenges on the path of interconnecting these new resources in an timely, cost-efficient, and reliable manner. ESIG’s Generator Interconnection Project Team is undertaking several efforts to help the industry resolve the interconnection queue backlog.

As one of the activities, ESIG supports the Interconnection Innovation e-Xchange (i2X) led by U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Office and Wind Energy Technologies Office. This initiative convenes diverse stakeholders involved in the interconnection of solar energy, wind energy, and energy storage resources to facilitate peer-learning and knowledge exchange and inspire new interconnection ideas and capabilities. i2X is supported by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Integrated System Planning Task Force

The Integrated System Planning Task Force provides a platform for planners, system operators, researchers, and consultants to discuss, work through, and advance the integration of electric system planning for generation, transmission, distribution, and load.  The task force also reviews and provides feedback on draft work product for the integrated planning guidebook that is under development.

Integrated System Planning Forum

The ISP Forum provides an opportunity for all who are interested to learn about best practices, tools, and data for integrated electric system planning.  The forum organizes presentations covering recent examples of integrated planning, examples of tools that can link together to provide integrations, and industry needs and research gaps.

Integrated System Planning Task Force Lead:  Matt Schuerger, Senior Fellow, ESIG
Matt Schuerger is ESIG’s Senior Fellow.  Matt has 40 years of experience in the energy industry, as an engineer, a senior manager, and a regulator, focused on reliability, integrated planning, and distributed energy resources. 

Large Load Task Force

*Led by Reliability Working Group with support from the System Planning Working Group and System Operation and Market Design Working Group

Scope of Work for Grid Planning and Operation of Large Loads
Large Load Task Force: Participant Descriptions

The Large Load Task Force will focus on large loads (also called step loads) and the challenges and solutions associated with ensuring these loads are planned efficiently and operated in ways that are economically efficient and support grid reliability. These new loads include data centers, hydrogen production, industrial heat electrification, EV fleet charging and others. This is a hot issue for utility planners who are struggling to forecast future load, for transmission planners who are struggling to build infrastructure in a timely fashion, for system operators who are seeing large loads disconnecting during a fault and potentially causing instabilities, for large load owners struggling through the interconnection and transmission planning process or who want access real-time prices, etc. This Task Force will address load forecasting, interconnection processes, interconnection performance requirements, modeling requirements, transmission planning, market participation models and resource adequacy.