IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - July/August 2019 - 12

leader's corner

ENERGY SUSTAINABILITY AND
decarbonization require reliable, resilient, and cost-effective electrical energy delivery. IEEE volunteers worldwide are meeting this challenge by
developing and implementing hybrid
grids. Such grids will allow renewable
and distributed energy resources to be
used efficiently and reliably. The importance of electrical energy has been emphasized in numerous mass-media discussions that often prioritize the views
of partisan politics or business agendas.
Some are very critical of the practicality of deploying renewable energy and
storage, while others take the opposite
approach, ignoring the challenges of relying on these technologies.

Significant Technological
Advancements Needed
A modern hybrid energy system contains a high penetration of renewable
wind power and distributed energy resources, traditional synchronous generation, energy storage, and transmission
and distribution (T&D) networks with
conventional and smart energy-efficient loads, including microgrids and
nanogrids. This option promises electrical energy delivery in a sustainable
and environmentally friendly way but
faces numerous challenges, especially
with the growing demand from increased electrification (transportation,
heat-pumps, and so on). The solutions
require significant technological adDigital Object Identifier 10.1109/MPE.2019.2907389
Date of publication: 18 June 2019

ieee power & energy magazine

Damir Novosel

energy sustainability
guiding the power & energy industry

vancements and infrastructure investments. New technologies and operating
techniques can be fully leveraged only
with the help of IEEE-provided interoperability standards accompanied by the
appropriate regulatory frameworks.
While distributed energy resources
provide value to the overall electric
system, it is also necessary to properly
recognize the value of the grid's capability to increase market penetration
and access for them, improve resilience,
increase electrification, lower market
prices, and provide the customer choice
for electric service. Today's interconnected grid started out as distributed
and became increasingly interconnected to improve cost efficiency, reliability,
service quality, and safety. Technological advancements have made renewable
resources more efficient and easier to
control in distributed grids. However,
the fundamental benefits of a connected
grid still hold and, in fact, become more
important. For example, the massive introduction of wind and solar photovoltaic distributed resources in Europe has
encouraged substantial grid reinforcements, including transnational interconnections that have enabled an integrated
energy market.

The IEEE's Unique
Responsibility
As the electric power system evolves
into an increasingly complex and dynamic hybrid energy system, it is vital
to adequately prioritize areas of focus
and the associated risks. As the largest global organization of professional

engineers, the IEEE has the unique
responsibility to help the power and
energy industry identify the best technical strategies to assure the resilient,
efficient, safe, and sustainable delivery
of electrical energy around the globe.
This guidance is one of the key ways in
which the IEEE fulfills its mission to
serve the betterment of society.
Recently, there has been much discussion regarding the definition of, and
metrics for, resilience. Once described
as the ability to withstand a high-impact,
low-frequency event, the definition for
this term may need to change as high-impact, weather-related events become the
new norm. While further defining the
resilience concept, baseline, and metrics
required to implement mitigation measures, incorporating resilience into the
T&D planning process is recommended.
For example, after fires ravaged California, the media and stakeholders asked
if enough was being done to inspect
and maintain its aging infrastructure,
including using advanced monitoring
technologies. While regulatory targets
in California have focused on promoting renewable energy and storage, it
is necessary to put additional focus on
resilience targets (in the face of fires,
hurricanes, extreme temperatures, and
so forth) as well. California is not alone;
other regulators have similar targets (e.g.,
New York Clean Energy Standards and
renewable energy targets in Germany).
It is very important to have forwardlooking regulatory targets that address
both short- and long-term needs in a balanced way to better serve consumers.
july/august 2019

IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - July/August 2019

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