Pillar 2 – System Operator Technical Support
Led by NREL, a holistic system operator technical assistance and capacity building program approach has been developed to ensure robust and impactful support to partner country system operators. Work programs are under development with developing country and emerging economy system operator partners in 10 countries that define priority activities for technical assistance and peer learning and exchange with the Founding System Operators and between all system operators.
Latest Accomplishments
G-PST Hosts System Operator Leadership Forum
To support the visionary goal of the G-PST Consortium to reduce power sector emissions by 50% globally by 2030, there is a need to build confidence within system operators at the highest level that reaching high variable renewable energy (VRE) penetration, while ensuring system reliability, is possible. To develop this confidence among system operators initiating the energy transition, the G-PST Consortium hosted a virtual joint forum on October 4th, 2021 between the leadership of emerging economy system operators and those from the G-PST’s founding system operators (FSOs). These FSOs represent grid systems that are at the cutting-edge of the energy transition and regularly manage reliability under high VRE penetration.
This forum provided a space for the FSOs to share their journeys, including key challenges, solutions, and good practices, as they have moved to high VRE penetration. It was also facilitated by Rebecca Collyer of the European Climate Fund to encourage open dialogue in a small group setting to encourage honest and frank sharing of challenges, as well as knowledge and solutions, to build confidence at the highest levels within system operators globally, while also setting the stage for future peer learning and technical discussions between staff within the system operators.
Attendees included leadership teams and technical designees from the following system operation groups:
Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), Australia
California Independent System Operator (CAISO), U.S.
Comité de Operación Económica del Sistema Interconectado Nacional (COES), Peru
EirGrid Group, Ireland
Energinet, Denmark
Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), U.S.
Eskom, South Africa
Kazakhstan Electricity Grid Operating Company (KEGOC), Kazakhstan
National Grid ESO, U.K.
National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), Philippines
National Load Dispatch Center (NLDC), Vietnam
National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC), Pakistan
Office National de l’Electricité et de l’Eau Potable (ONEE), Morocco
Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), Indonesia
Power System Operator Corporation (POSOCO), India
West African Power Pool (WAPP)
XM Compañía Expertos en Mercados (XM), Colombia
G-PST Community of Practice: Deep Dive on Advanced Renewable Energy Forecasting Techniques
This event focuses on deeper dive peer-learning and good practices to support advanced renewable energy forecasting and the role of advanced forecasting in power system transformation. The session brings together system operators to share experiences on this topic and discuss specific challenges in the region.
Speakers include:
Beni Suryadi – ASEAN Centre for Energy
Jack Fox – Australia Energy Market Operator (AEMO)
Josh Brodrick – AEMO
Bri-Mathias Hodge – National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Bui Duy Linh – National Load Dispatch Center, Vietnam
Cybersecurity for Electrical Utilities in India: Trends and Challenges
Many current trends make cybersecurity more of a concern for electrical grids and system operators. One of these trends is the increase of renewable energy as a percentage of overall generation. This shift toward renewables will change the electric grid’s attack surface and require new thinking around how best to secure this critical infrastructure. Understanding the technical requirements for securing the grid under high penetrations of renewables is essential for system operators. This webinar provides an overview of the trends and challenges associated with electrical grid cybersecurity with a focus on considerations specific to India. It also features presentations and discussion by experts in the field, including:
• Jeffrey Fuller, Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) Energy
• P.K. Agarwal, Former Director & CISO, POSOCO Ltd.
• Maurice Martin and Anuj Sanghvi, U.S. Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Southeast Asia Community of Practice: Tools and Case Studies for Inertia Monitoring and Calculation
System inertia has long been used by system operators to keep the frequency of the system from straying too far from normal. Historically, inertia from traditional sources (i.e., the spinning mass of generators and motor loads) were abundant and it was not necessary to monitor the amount of online inertia at any one time. But as the role of inverter-based resources (i.e., wind, solar, and battery storage) increases, inertia from traditional sources is decreasing. System operators globally have found it to be valuable to estimate and monitor the online inertia to ensure the system will respond adequately to sudden changes in frequency, even though inertia is not the only option to arrest frequency deviations. This webinar explores the diversity of methods used by system operators in Southeast Asia and globally to track inertia, giving more confidence to operators in the control room that a system in transition can operate as securely as systems of the past.