IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 4

from the editor

Michael Henderson

growth everywhere
the integration of distributed energy resources

In This Issue
this issue about the distribution system
integration of renewable energy resources
discusses creative ways the power system
can reliably accommodate Ders. our
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MPE.2016.2640439
Date of publication: 1 March 2017

ieee power & energy magazine

Image lIcensed by graphIc stock

DistributeD energy resources
(Ders) are growing by leaps and
bounds worldwide. Photovoltaics make
up most of this growth in the united
states, and new england is no exception
with over 1,650 MW (nameplate) in service by the end of the summer of 2016.
Large penetrations of Ders create several challenges and opportunities. seams
between the operating and planning requirements of the bulk power system and
the distribution system become readily
apparent with the large-scale development
of Ders. the issues of observability and
controllability must be addressed. the
growth of inverter-based resources presents particular challenges that may be addressed by smart engineers using "smart
inverters," which have special controls.
the reliable and economical operation of the overall system can only be
achieved with proper planning and regulatory regimens that address the need for
reliable interconnection standards. ieee
continues to play a key role through the
extraordinary work being done to revise
ieee standard 1547. the ieee Power
& energy society (Pes) provides opportunities for sharing the latest research
and development methods for successfully developing and integrating Ders.

issue's guest editors, barry Mather and
guohui yuan, collected six articles that
review case studies of Der integration
and show it can be achieved innovatively. their guest editorial summarizes the
theme and introduces articles that feature:
✔✔ the valuation of Ders and an interesting demonstration project
planned in california
✔✔ the importance of Der placement
and services that can be provided
as an alternatives to the traditional
utility infrastructure
✔✔ the modeling and application of
Ders as a low-cost solution to system needs in brooklyn-Queens,
new york
✔✔ the innovative use of geographical
information system data to distribution system studies

✔✔ the development of Der inter-

connection requirements by a u.s.
state and improvements made by
ieee 1547
✔✔ a means of overcoming the technical difficulties of systems with
high amounts of variable resources.
the "in My View" column shares the experience of Heco, which provides an interesting discussion of the lessons learned
by island systems with large amounts of
Ders. it is my hope you find these articles interesting and informative.

PES Updates
it is truly a credit to our leadership and
membership that ieee achieves so much
important work. in "Leader's corner,"
Pes Vice President, Publications, Mariesa crow and President Damir novosel
march/april 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017