IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - May/June 2017 - 21

By Bob Currie, Chad Abbey, Graham Ault,
Jeff Ballard, Brian Conroy, Ryan Sims,
and Chris Williams

Introduction
Incentives for renewable generation have succeeded in increasing the capacity of photovoltaics (PVs) and wind in New York State. To meet the objectives of REV, there needs to be
a massive expansion in the interconnection of DERs across the state. The REV proceeding
includes a provision for funding demonstration projects, which focus not only on piloting
technology solutions but also on demonstrating future business models. In particular, each of
the incumbent utilities is tasked with creating new revenue streams and demonstrating new
ways of doing business that unlock the potential and value of DERs.
AVANGRID operates regulated public utilities, delivering natural gas and electricity to 3.1
million customers in New York and New England. In New York State, this includes New York
State Electric and Gas (NYSEG) and the Rochester
Gas and Electric Corporation (RG&E). Smarter Grid
Solutions and AVANGRID have partnered on the Flexible Interconnection Capacity Solutions (FICS) project,
which focuses on providing new interconnection solutions for DER developers in New York. This project is
one of several REV demonstration projects that are up
and running, delivering a broad range of output and
learning for New York State about new and innovative
technology solutions and DER business models. The
FICS project provides DER developers with alternative
interconnection options where grid upgrades would
have been required previously. This reduces the cost of
interconnection and shortens the time needed to bring projects online.
Smarter Grid Solutions is a provider of active network management (ANM) products and
services. ANM is concerned with the management and control of DERs for the purposes of
increasing DER hosting capacity and managing operational constraints on the existing distribution system. The impact of ANM occurs throughout the life of DER assets, from planning
and operation to market participation. In this way, ANM is a foundational component of
emerging distributed energy resource management systems (DERMSs).
In line with the REV goal of helping utilities realign their business in the face of changing
market and grid operation paradigms, the FICS project is allowing AVANGRID to trial new solutions and providing the revenue and cost structures to make them work. This learning will allow
AVANGRID to maintain competitiveness in the face of new industry challenges and potentially
access new revenue opportunities associated with REV markets.

New Tools and
Operational Solutions
for Managing Distributed
Energy Resources

The Flexible Interconnection Capacity Solutions Project
The NYSEG and RG&E territories in New York State are similar to many other rural areas
of the northeastern United States. Many solar developers are looking to build projects in
similar areas to take advantage of cheaper land and to access incentives. One result of this is
that multiple DER projects are going through the planning phase at the same time in the same
areas, causing interactions and interdependencies that are hard to plan for. To maintain system
reliability, many of these projects require various technology solutions to be able to connect,
including direct transfer trip (DTT) and neutral overvoltage protection (protection control
systems to guard against unwanted system operation scenarios possible with high penetrations of DERs, e.g., unintentional islanding). A substantial increase in DER activity in the last
may/june 2017

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - May/June 2017