DER — What the Future May Hold and How to Better Prepare Now

Abstract

Distributed Energy Resources (DER) - costs continue to decrease, technology continues to advance and standards continue to evolve, and of course, new DER interconnections continue to occur. The future of DER has never looked better, but the uncertainty that it brings to the utility industry is a challenge that needs to be continually addressed in a collaborative fashion. The future may likely include much more integration of DER into utility systems and interaction between the consumer and the utility. How the utility industry can better prepare now for this future is an important topic for discussion. A full revision of the cornerstone DER interconnection standard (IEEE Standard 1547) is presently underway and is expected to be completed sometime in 2017. Several proposed changes to this standard have the potential to significantly change how DER and the utility system interact. Additional information and requirements related to voltage and frequency ride-through are expected to be included, possibly going so far as making certain voltage and frequency ride-through provisions mandatory within certain parameters. Additionally, DER may be allowed to specifically provide active voltage and dynamic reactive power support to the utility system, and how that is achieved and monitored may be defined within the standard. DER interest groups have long touted these potential grid support benefits that DER may be able to provide. Obtaining these capabilities and realizing these benefits, though, will require greater interoperability and interfaces between the utility and DER. IEEE Standard 2030 is another closely related and evolving standard that builds on the concepts of interoperability and DER/utility interfaces. Together, the evolution of these two standards will have a profound effect on the future of DER, its integration, and the operation and planning of utility systems. As the proliferation of DER continues, there is the potential for radical changes to utility infrastructure and the business models in general. This paper will explore what the future of DER might look like for consumers and utilities and how the industry can better prepare for it now. High penetrations of DER, hosting capacity calculations and interfaces between utilities and DER will be discussed.