Co-authored with: Ali Mohammed, Daniella Piper, Rahul Kadavil, Reza Pourramezan, Thai Thanh Nguyen, and Victor Daldegan Paduani
Electric utilities face unprecedented challenges responding to the impact of climate change and the resulting push for decarbonization of the energy sector. New York’s response is guided by its Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act (CLCPA). This landmark legislation seeks to achieve an emission-free electricity generation by 2040 by integrating multiple gigawatts of renewable energy resources and storage systems [https://climate.ny.gov].
Reference: NYISO's Power Trends 2023 report
The New York Power Authority (NYPA) is playing an integral role in this effort by developing strategic initiatives to support CLCPA, with the goal of delivering a cleaner, more resilient, and affordable energy system for all New Yorkers. The Power Authority is the largest state public power organization in the United States, owning and operating close to 6,000 megawatts of generation--mostly hydroelectric--and 1,400 circuit-miles of bulk power transmission from 765 to 115 kilovolts throughout New York State, as displayed in.
As we go forward, here is one major issue that we are confronting: The resulting increase in penetration levels of inverter-based renewable energy resources (RES) creates technical challenges to maintaining a reliable grid.
NYPA’s operation challenges include:
- The dynamic behavior of RES, interfaced through power electronic devices with the power grid, can interfere with the operation of protection systems that are vital to grid reliability.
- As RES continues to replace the conventional synchronous generator-based power plants, the overall inertia of the power grid is reduced, making the grid susceptible to instability.
- Control interactions between RES sites would result in harmful oscillations in electricity parameters-- such as voltages and currents--that can potentially drag the power grid into instability.
Dealing with these complex technical issues will require considerable research and development to identify and implement solutions.
Fortunately, many innovative and powerful new digital technologies--some of which were developed by other industries such as computer hardware—could drastically expedite the development and adoption of new solutions. These innovations could help achieve the integration of inverter-based resources, as well as improved system efficiency, reliability/resiliency and security, and lower grid operation costs.
This brings us to NYPA’s Advanced Grid Innovation Laboratory for Energy (AGILe), a state-of-the-art power systems laboratory that was developed to provide a close-to-real testing environment that facilitates identifying and solving grid-related challenges.
AGILe maintains accurate and realistic models of New York State’s electric grid, providing a testbed for researchers under conditions that are as close as possible to actual field conditions, but without the time, complexities, costs and risks of field implementation. This approach de-risks such new technologies so that they can more rapidly advance to field pilots and installations after extensive testing a realistic lab environment.
One of AGILe’s recent key initiatives is the development of a comprehensive digital twin of New York State’s electric grid.
A digital twin is a virtual representation of an object or system that spans its lifecycle. It is updated from real-time data and uses simulation, machine learning and reasoning to aid decision-making. Digital twins are categorized into different levels of complexity: Descriptive, Informative, Predictive and Comprehensive; the latter is the most complex.
There are several use-cases for digital twins. They include realistic testing of technologies, control room advisory by complementing the judgement of grid operators, predictive operations, education and training, root-cause analysis, long-term decision support, asset management, field operation support and collaborative decision-making among stakeholders.
The comprehensive digital twin of New York State’s electric grid will include a repository of models of transmission, distribution, market and communication network of past, current and future years. It will also be equipped with interfaces to receive real-time, recorded, and forecasted data that enables it to move in time.
Furthermore, virtual reality-based control rooms, actual control and power devices, asset monitoring systems, and models of other energy systems will be integrated with the digital twin.
Using AGILe’s advanced tools, NYPA participates in research projects with partners that include academic institutions, electric utilities, system operators, national laboratories, and consulting firms. The projects include advanced modeling and simulation for transmission and distribution applications, cybersecurity testing, substation protection, automation and control, advanced sensor technologies, and power electronics controllers.
Research labs have been gaining popularity with electric utilities as valuable assets for helping to plan and prepare for the industry’s fast-changing landscape. NYPA’s vision on AGILe expands beyond the technical and engineering aspects of a lab. It has created a collaborative research environment that brings a wide range of stakeholders together to work on shared challenges and opportunities to improve the electricity grid’s efficiency, reliability, and resiliency [https://www.nypa.gov/innovation/digital-utility/agile-lab].