Elevate Energy Consulting

ESIG with support from Elevate Energy Consulting, and in collaboration with Berkeley Lab and EPRI, is supporting the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) initiative to facilitate the Forum for the Implementation of Reliability Standards for Transmission (FIRST) as part of the DOE’s Interconnection Innovation e-Xchange (i2X).   Join us Tuesday, April 29 for our next meeting to discuss reactive power and voltage control requirements, particularly Clause 5 of IEEE 2800-2022, focusing on specific topics such as “Vars at night,” reactive at sunrise as well as a developer's perspective on Reactive Power-Voltage Control Requirements.   Register for the April 29 meeting here 👉 https://lnkd.in/ebETTSc3   🖥️ Visit the ESIG i2X FIRST webpage for meeting materials, recordings, future meeting details and agendas 👉 https://lnkd.in/ejUS8sZx   FIRST convenes North American independent system operators, regional transmission operators, utility staff, generator developers and owners/operators, consultants and original equipment manufacturers interested in advancing the implementation of updated interconnection clean energy standards.   The Forum is a series of monthly, interactive, virtual meetings comprised of expert presentations and industry discussions. Each meeting, focused on a specific technical aspect of the standards, addresses the rationale behind the requirements, technology readiness, best practices for conformity assessment and monitoring, and technical challenges and implementation gaps.

🗓️ Yesterday marked a MILESTONE in the ERCOT Nodal Operating Guide Revision Request (NOGRR) 245 process, with the April 1 deadline to submit initial reports (DocuSigns) regarding ride-through capability and equipment ride-through maximization. This also marked the date for Resource Entities to request extensions to maximize their ride-through capability, where needed, and to submit notices of intent for exemptions to the requirements. 🔎 This deadline required a significant degree of reporting regarding frequency ride-through, voltage ride-through, plant dynamic capabilities/performance, use of filtered quantities and instantaneous protections, plans for maximization of ride-through capability, analysis of dynamic model sufficiency and limitations, etc. It was an incredible lift! 🏋♂️ I'm beyond proud of the Elevate Energy Consulting team who analyzed well over 100 units in Texas and lent our full support, brainpower, automations, analysis capabilities, and persistent attention to detail to ensure our project partners were able to provide the BEST POSSIBLE answers and information to #ERCOT in an effort to maximize ride-through capability for the existing fleet and resources coming online soon. Much work is still to be done to enact those improvements and maximize performance, but our partners have a clear path forward and are supporting a reliable and resilient ERCOT system. 👏 I have been insanely impressed by numerous Resource Entities' attention and focus on this NOGRR 245 effort, their drive to get as much information out of the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) as possible (which has been no small feat, frankly), and their goal to ensure resources remain connected and providing grid services during disturbances to the maximum extent possible. Kudos to all involved! ⚠️ There is much to be learned by other entities (particularly transmission providers) seeking to implement requirements in an effective and efficient manner. I hope we can extract key learnings from this monumental exercise so that we don't make similar "mistakes" in other regions that are rolling out enhanced requirements. NOGRR 245 Issue: https://lnkd.in/d2Vggdf7

Want to be part of helping take Elevate Energy Consulting to the next level and streamlining how we maximize value to our partners and the industry at-large? ⚡ We'd love to connect! Reach out to me or Hayley Quint to talk further!

📣 Looking for Transmission Planners! Come join the ⭐️ BEST ⭐️ growing team here at Elevate Energy Consulting. (Not that I’m biased at all…) ☺️ We’re looking for #motivated folks eager to join a #fastpaced team making a big difference with our partners. We’re expanding our transmission planning studies team as we take on new projects, and looking for all experience levels! Powerflow, contingency analysis, dynamics, short-circuit, EMT, and beyond. We focus on the fundamentals - attitude, passion, drive, grit, curiosity, collaboration, and respect. Everything else is teachable - especially tools! Reach out to me, Kyle Thomas, Farhad Yahyaie, or any of the #Elevate team to connect and discuss further!

The Vermont Electric Cooperative team continues to build an ecosystem of partners focused on innovation across many domains. Elevate Energy Consulting is thrilled to be working with Cyril Brunner and the #VEC team and other stakeholders in Vermont on multiple fronts: 🔶 Leveraging grid edge broadband measurement technology (GridVisibility, inc.) to enhance situational awareness and improve planning and operational decisions. 🔶 Coordinating with VELCO - Vermont Electric Power Company and ISO New England Inc. to enhance offline engineering tools and online visibility across the distribution-transmission-system operator stack. 🔶 Building a cohesive network model of the #VEC distribution system and parts of the VELCO - Vermont Electric Power Company transmission system in a unified model platform (encoord) to test T/D impacts of growing distributed energy resources (#DERs) and virtual power plants (#VPPs).

Had the privilege of moderating the Large Load Interconnection Process panel this morning at the ESIG (Energy Systems Integration Group) workshop alongside esteemed colleagues and industry experts Casey Baker (GridLab), Agee Springer (ERCOT), Oluwatimilehin Adeosun (Dominion Energy), and Evan Pierce (EdgeConneX). Key takeaways from the engaging discussion: 🔶 Industry is experiencing a massive influx of large load (data center) interconnection requests. With minimal barriers to entry, the question for utilities becomes "What's real and what's credible?" Large load queue in ERCOT is now about to break 100 GW! 🔶 Large load disturbance events continue to occur, and bigger. Dominion Energy recently had a data center transfer/disconnection event in February 2025 of 1800 MW; ERCOT has had numerous large load events over the past year. 🔶 Technical requirements and model quality need to improve, and quickly. We are starting to see data center power-induced power quality issues, tripping events, 23 Hz subsynchronous oscillations, etc. All these should be picked up during system studies, which require careful attention to modeling and model quality - understanding what's inside the facility and how the facility behaves electrically is critical! 🔶 Establishing large load interconnection requirements, and leveraging transmission provider Facility Interconnection Requirements (FIRs) per North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) FAC-001 obligations can help ensure data, performance, models, etc., are provided and delivered. 🔶 Improved coordination and information sharing (i.e., speaking the same language) between the large load customer and the utility is critical. Understanding what the expectations, requirements, and milestones are throughout the process improves practices for both sides. 🔶 Sequential studies for a booming large load queue with significant speculation is not tenable. Change to large load processing and studies is needed, similar to IBR experience. 🔶 The landscape is shifting dramatically, so the persistent attention to continuous improvement is necessary for all parties. Learn, adapt, repeat. 🔶 Significant value for data center developers and owner/operators engaging with folks that "understand the grid and the industry." Being ready for engaging with the utility and their requirements can help de-risk projects. Thank you to #ESIG for a lively and engaging discussion!

Prof. Lingling Fan presented this morning at the ESIG (Energy Systems Integration Group) workshop on oscillation behaviors from inverter-based resources ranging from communications delays, interactions with grid impedance, and other factors. What I found intriguing was Dr. Fan’s concluding slide and remarks. Making abstractions, reasoning, and simplifying and constructing feedback systems help reveal underlying mechanisms. 🧠 Understanding the underlying drivers of these oscillations at their core can help then develop 🛠️mitigations and put them into action effectively. 💡Advanced computing power can help us move the needle. I think the core value-add is putting all this computing power to work in areas that minimize repetitive and redundant work and enable smart people to more effectively THINK about creative solutions.

Packed room at the kickoff plenary of the ESIG (Energy Systems Integration Group) Spring Workshop! Always great hearing Venkat Tirupati, P.E. share the transformation and innovations going on in the ERCOT footprint across Texas on the load side, distributed energy resources, clean energy resources, transmission backbone plans, and all the systems, networks, tools, processes, and people that make it all happen.

🔋 A very compelling call to action for grid forming (#GFM) battery energy storage adoption at scale. Tangible benefits for grid operators, renewables developers, regulators, and policymakers. Less stability risks, better resilience to future unknowns during the changing resource mix, strong interoperability between OEMs, higher IBR hosting capacity, less curtailment. 💡 Kudos to the forward-leaning entities (both transmission and generation) who are driving adoption - keep it up. Let us know how Elevate Energy Consulting can assist in building a reliable and resilient system that fully leverages the capabilities of modern #IBR technology - GFM is ready for primetime, in my books. 👏 Thank you to GridLab and ESIG (Energy Systems Integration Group) for funding this important, pragmatical, informative work using real world OEM-supplied GFM models on real-world systems in the ATC system. ⚡ A tremendous honor to work collaboratively with this amazing study team. Shout out to Farhad Yahyaie, Andrew Isaacs, Lukas Unruh, Julia Matevosyan, Casey Baker, Michael Marz, Damien Sommer, and many others on the ATC team who made this project happen! Brief: https://lnkd.in/g5ZzmQtg Webinar: https://lnkd.in/gxYzT_Rx

💡 NEW ESIG BRIEF FOR DECISIONMAKERS 💡 "A Call to Action for a Stable Energy Transition: Grid-Forming Battery Energy Storage Systems" Grid-forming batteries widely deployed in a typical power system increase reliability as well as lower costs for additional solar and wind. The deployment of grid-forming battery technology can also enable more solar and wind resources to connect to the grid at lower cost. The incremental cost to developers and utilities of incorporating grid-forming technology in newly connecting batteries is notably lower than alternative solutions such as synchronous condensers, STATCOMs, must-run synchronous machines, renewables curtailment, or transmission infrastructure. While grid-forming batteries are commercially available and are deployed globally, U.S. deployment is lagging. This brief summarizes a study that quantitatively demonstrated the benefits of grid-forming batteries when deployed in a typical interconnected bulk power system. The results of this study showed that GFM BESS operated stably in strong grids, including when near grid-forming batteries from other manufacturers and near batteries with less advanced inverters, and would be able to help defer more costly solution options, serving as a bridge to long-lead-time solutions like transmission infrastructure build-out. Read more from ESIG's Benefits of GFM BESS Project Team 👉 https://lnkd.in/esERJ_g2 GridLab | Elevate Energy Consulting | Electranix Corporation