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By Zachary Hoffman and Luka Papalko
COLUMBUS, OH (July 27, 2017) - “Welcome to DERs day,” joked Public Utilities Commission of
Ohio Commissioner Larry K. Friedeman.
Acronyms, abbreviations and more acronyms.
If days one and two of PowerForward didn’t settle your
appetite for utility jargon, then day three should have fulfilled any left over
cravings.
Chris
Villareal, President of Plugged in Strategies provided the first
presentation of the day, introducing what would be the focus of many of the
day’s speakers: distributed energy resources (DERs). Described as grid-connected
power sources located close to customers, these resources are playing a larger
role in the grid as technology advances.
“All these pieces together, the value of these resources are
not just single values,” said Villareal. “Storage resources provide value to
the customer, distribution grid and transmission systems.”
Villareal noted the importance of creating an environment where
these advancements can have a place in the grid. “If policies are there to
create barriers, consumers will be frustrated and will find ways to work around
the system,” he said. “A network is more valuable when more things, more people
are connected to it.”
The first panel of the day featured Julio
Romero Agüero of Quanta
Technology, Michael
Coddington of National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Tom
Key of EPRI.
Following Villareal, Julio Romero Agüero stressed DER
readiness, “DERs is ready and here to stay.” Calling distributed generation
interconnection, “one of the most important challenges facing the utility
industry,” he touched on the need for utility systems updates to be relevant in
this new standard.
Another point brought up, a constant throughout the panel on
distribution system safety and reliability, is two-way power flow. With
connected distributed generation, energy may flow two ways – not just one. “We
are evolving from passive systems to becoming active systems,” Agüero said.
Tom Key made the observation that, “we are making the shift
from accommodating to integrating” when it comes to the transition from a more
conventional grid to a more flexible, integrated grid.
“Consumers become energy producers,” Key said. “Power flow
changes, loads are more interactive and dynamic.”
Providing a visual picture of the challenges ahead, Michael
Coddington described the many flowing
pieces in today’s energy market as an interconnected puzzle. Smart inverters,
new technology, standards, codes, interconnection rules, all must work
hand-in-hand with each other to form the larger picture of the modern grid.
 NREL
The second panel of the day featured Neil Placer
of Placer Consulting Services, LLC, Alan
Cooke of PNNL and Joshua
Wong of Opus One Solutions.
Shifting from an on-the-surface focus (multi-direction power
flow) to a below-the-surface examination (grid framework constructs), Neil
Placer provided insight into developing a systematic utility framework in
today’s environment.
“We are currently moving from an orderly, controlled system
to more of a chaotic environment,” he said. Placer indicated that planning for
a new utility environment is not an issue of complexity but one of order.
As talks for planning continued, Villareal summed things up
well by saying, “Ohio has the ability to start planning now.” He added, “We
must have the ability to understand the system needs.”
This planning, as detailed by Alan Cooke is driving the utilities to think about new
ways to do planning. “You don’t always have to think about building more lines
and wires.” He continued, “You can start thinking more about controlling
generation and instituting some of the non-wire solutions.”
The changing of how systems operate and how utilities plan,
also shifts towards what Joshua Wong called the transactive energy platform.
“Traditional planning is inadequate for DERs,” he stated. “DER is a connection
process. We must figure out how we tie them together.”
Wong also provided an excellent summation of the challenges
the current grid faces and states, like Ohio, are hoping to take in providing a
capable grid. “The grid is blind. What you can’t see, you can’t control. What
you can’t control, you can’t optimize. What you can’t optimize, can’t be
valuated.”
Providing the second presentation of the day, Vijay Singh
of NextEra Energy Resources shifted the focus to the topic of energy storage
and pointed out that the dropping prices of battery storage in recent years is
a sign of its increasing influence on the modern electric grid.
“If you look at lithium-ion battery prices … we have seen a
dramatic reduction in cost over the last four to 10 years,” stated Singh.
Calling attention to new and expanding markets, such as that
of electric vehicles (EVs), Singh stated that the falling prices, as well as
the increasing efficiency and duration of lithium-ion batteries, make it a
natural partner for the modern electric distribution grid and an important part
of the electric distribution platform.
The final panel of the day, featuring Don Harrod,
Village Administrator of Minster, Ohio, Ryan Harty of American Honda Motor Co.,
Inc. and Roger
Wilkens of the Pilot Microgrid Project for Athens Ohio, presented real
world proof of Singh’s statements.
Discussing what was originally planned as a standalone 4.3
MW solar array for the Village of Minster, Harrod discussed the village’s
decision to enter into a public-private partnership for the project that
included a 7 MW lithium-ion storage system.
Harrod stated that as the original project began, new
legislation and financial constraints made it clear that the village needed to
seek out possible partners. After initially finding none, thought gave rise to pairing
the project with an electric storage system. After pitching the updated
project, the village was able to quickly find willing partners and began
construction.
“We learned that this model was very successful for us,”
stated Harrod. “It was good for our community.” He went on to explain that the
combination of solar and energy storage worked so well that the village was
considering a second and third project.
Harty brought the perspective of one of Ohio’s largest
companies and was excited to see that so many other presenters shared Honda’s
views.
“Honda is working to dramatically reduce our global GHG
(greenhouse gas) emissions footprint,” stated Harty. “Zero carbon energy
requires energy storage, so our challenge here to the Commission today is to
think big.”
Harty outlined Honda’s plan to reduce their year 2000 CO2
emissions by 50 percent before the year 2050, and stated that they
believe EVs, renewable generation and energy storage will be exactly how they
can make that happen.
To close out the day, Jeff Taft of PNNL returned to tie the
whole three days together, stating that “based on all the things we’ve heard
this week, the word platform is clearly still in the running for utility term
of the year.”
One thing Taft wanted to focus on before closing out the
day, however, was the role that energy storage could play as a piece of the
grid platform and architecture, rather than only being something behind the
meter or paired to renewable energy.
“Storage is a flexible kind of component,” stated Taft. He
wanted to remind the Commission that distribution utilities could utilize
energy storage to improve the resilience and reliability of the grid, as well
as to help edge out the volatility of user demand.
Most importantly, Taft came back to the idea of the grid as
a platform, stating that “the platform concept can help you sort out what fits
where.”
With so much great information on the technologies that will
make the future electric distribution grid possible, it’s time for the Commission
to get down to work before PowerForward Phase 3 can begin.
The PUCO would like to thank everyone who participated in
PowerForward: Exploring Technologies, and would like to encourage you to follow
us on social media for future updates and announcements on Phase 3.
You can find webcast recordings and updates on the
PowerForward page at www.PUCO.ohio.gov.
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