IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - September/October 2014 - 16

CAPESoftware

for Protection Engineering

greatest risk for future events. to assess the risk of a physical
attack, the facilities with the greatest impact or risk based on
their ranking can be further focused upon, analyzing components within the facilities that may pose a risk.

Microgrids

CAPE's more accurate protection
system modeling helps you find lurking
misoperations that other products can't.
CAPE is the only protection software detailed
enough to support comprehensive wide
area protection coordination reviews.

CAPE has the world's largest library
of detailed, manufacturer-specific relay
styles. And CAPE's many shortcuts and
productivity features make all that detail
manageable. Plus your investment in
CAPE keeps getting better, with ongoing,
responsive software development.

Try the CAPE 60-day demo. We can
help you convert your existing protection
database to CAPE. It's a great way to take
a better look at your protection system.

www.electrocon.com
1-734-761-8612 * 1-888-240-4044 (U.S. only)
eii@electrocon.com

Microgrids, as integrated power delivery systems consisting of interconnected loads, distributed energy resources, and storage, address specific applications and
needs and have the potential to change how we operate
the grid. some believe that microgrids will be the grid of
the future, while others believe that there is no business
case for a large proliferation of microgrids. One needs
to consider that the grid started as a microgrid and that
interconnected grids were originally created to improve
grid cost-effectiveness, reliability, and service quality.
although the technology advancements mentioned above
made it easier to deploy controllable and more efficient
microgrids, the fundamental benefits of a connected grid
still hold.
the fact that connecting grids for reliability was followed by their use for market transactions that created
reliability problems says more about our shortsighted
approach to implement economic laws by conveniently
ignoring basic laws of physics. as the grid was not originally designed for that purpose, we learned the hard way
(e.g., enron and 2003 blackouts in the united states and
europe). in any case, we did learn as electrical grids have
been significantly improved through major investments in
building the t&d infrastructure and managing that infrastructure through smart grid technologies.

Managing the Grid
We are again at the crossroads of making business and technical decisions that will allow us to optimally and cost-effectively manage the grid. it is expected that companies like
Google and Microsoft may move into to the energy delivery
business and that business and technical delivery models
will change. however, microgrids and traditional grids need
to work synergistically to form hybrid grids to fulfill all the
consumer needs for resilience and cost efficiency. the business case will depend on benefits achieved by microgrids,
including the required level of service, and a continued
decrease in pricing of technologies such as photovoltaic
panels and storage.
the following are some key benefits of microgrids:
✔ capacity, reliability, and power quality improvements
* a low-cost augmentation and alternative to a utility
system construction or upgrade
* better power quality and outage management for
critical and remote customers (e.g., for weather
events)
✔ sustainability enables an optimal dispatch of renewables (accompanied by emissions reduction) and
high customer involvement

http://www.electrocon.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - September/October 2014