IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2017 - 6

from the editor

Michael Henderson

variable energy sources
how to integrate renewables into the system

In This Issue
Several of the opinions expressed in this
issue challenge conventional thinking,
but we would be well served by listening very carefully to the team of internationally renowned experts assembled
by Charlie Smith. As summarized in
the "Guest Editorial," this issue provides a veritable manual on how to integrate the large-scale development of
variable energy resources. The articles
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MPE.2017.2734862
Date of publication: 18 October 2017

6

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T

THE FUTURE IS NOW! SYSTEM
planners and operators routinely deal
with the challenges of the large-scale
integration of wind and photovoltaic
resources. Even New England has well
over 2,100 MW of photovoltaic resources and 1,300 MW of wind generation in
a system that peaked this past summer
at approximately 23,800 MW. The region boasts the first offshore wind farm
in the Western Hemisphere and has approximately 5,400 MW of wind generation in the interconnection queue. The
growth of clean renewable sources has
given rise to duck curves in the region.
Given the lower costs for renewables and
government programs, growth forecasts
for inverter-based resources remain high.
The anticipated system changes challenge our traditional thinking about the
electric power system and the rules of
thumb used to plan and operate the network. Weak grids with up to 100% asynchronous generation are a now a reality
on some systems.

identify key issues and discuss how
they are being resolved worldwide by
illustrating the following:
✔ lessons learned from systems with
a diverse set of wind and solar integration activities that can help
us understand how to achieve a
reliable system
✔ the use of energy storage as a means
of meeting system requirements
for flexibility and fast response
✔ improved system operations through
the application of probabilistic forecasts and the consideration of uncertain information
✔ increased adverse interactions
between the bulk power system
and distribution system due to
the addition of distributed energy resources, but implementing

updates to IEEE 1547 interconnection requirements can improve
system performance
✔ reductions in system inertia with
the large-scale penetration of
inverter-based resources can be
overcome and secure operation
achieved through the use of voltage
control, frequency control, and inverter ride through characteristics
✔ the evolution of market designs
necessitated by the increasing
share of renewables in the system
resource mix
✔ system planning with large-scale
renewable development.
The "In My View" column discusses the major structural transformation
that is taking place in the industry, and
that goes well beyond renewables.
november/december 2017
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2017
