The increasing penetration of renewable energy, and consequently the number of distributed energy resources (DER) interconnections, has given rise to problems that can have a significant impact on grid operations. Presenters from two utilities will each discuss the development and deployment of advanced distribution management systems (ADMS) and distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS). SMUD’s DERMS implementation is being completed in two parts. The first allowed SMUD to gain visibility and control of DERs through a mix of telemetry, metering, real-time estimation, and forecasting DER production and impacts to system conditions. The second part will give SMUD the ability to schedule DERs, or smart inverter modes, to improve electrical performance by dispatching DERs to solve grid conditions in real-time. SMUD will include customer cited DERs as part of the solutions. Similarly, ComEd, instead of implementing traditional system upgrades, has developed and deployed DERMS solutions to interface with customer site controllers. This interface allows ComEd to ensure the protection of network sub-transmission system assets, specifically to mitigate reverse power flow, high voltage and voltage fluctuations due to solar PV & Battery Energy Storage (BESS) operation.

Key Takeaways:

• How ADMS and DERMS platforms can integrate customers’ DERs into the distribution grid.
• DER integration trends
• Results of ComEd’s DERMs load relief and voltage management demonstration projects