Framework and roadmap for smart grid interoperability standards regional roundtables summary report

Abstract

From September to November 2018, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) partnered with the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) to hold a series of roundtable meetings to support the revision of its Framework and Roadmap for Smart Grid Interoperability Standards (hereafter the Framework). The Framework addresses the increasingly important ability to exchange actionable information between devices and organizations.Four one-day regional meetings were held to support development of Framework version 4.0, which reflects structural changes and increasing system complexity in the grid. Fast-paced grid evolution necessitates updated interoperability considerations, particularly as applied to the Framework's Smart Grid Conceptual Models. These diagrams have been expanded to include four communication pathways scenarios, Legacy Utility, High-DER Architecture, Microgrid, and Advanced Bulk to be considered moving forward (shown in Appendix F). The roundtables gathered input from stakeholders (utilities, service providers, regulators, technology suppliers) on the updated Framework, as well as input on regional issues that need consideration. Meetings were organized by regions and conceptual models, as follows:• The Midwest Regional Roundtable held in Indianapolis, Indiana, focused on Legacy Utility Communications. In this scenario, a logical model of legacy systems is mapped onto conceptual domains for smart grid information networks.

NIST framework and roadmap for smart grid interoperability standards, release 4.0

“…The electric vehicle interface has been identified as one that would benefit from improved interoperability [97], and development of an initial Interoperability Profile for managed charging is underway. Creation of the first Interoperability Profile will further socialize the concept and provide an opportunity to refine the development process.…”

“…Creation of the first Interoperability Profile will further socialize the concept and provide an opportunity to refine the development process. There will need to be more Interoperability Profiles in the future, with several additional candidate interfaces already identified [97].…”

“…If complete trustworthiness is achieved, field nodes might never require exposure to the system operator. This trusted ideal is in marked contrast to the input NIST received during a recent set of workshops, wherein some participants emphasized that utilities may need to continuously monitor all DERs on a system -including those contained within customer-owned microgrids -to ensure the utility can manage contingency operations [97].…”

“…Expanded use of DERs and other new technologies, as described in the communication pathways scenarios (see Section 1), will have impacts throughout the electricity systemincluding the Bulk Power System -and require utilities to integrate more refined observation and control at the edge of their respective systems [97]. But even without technology advancement, product lifecycles and evolving safety requirements [98] demand integration of new devices and systems into the existing grid.…”

“…As we consider the above list of possible grid functions, it is clear that the majority of fastacting opportunities are at the edge of the system. A future grid state that could incorporate and benefit from these -or similar -capabilities will rely on innovation in resource flexibility, power electronics, distributed intelligence, and adaptive protection [97]. Changes of this magnitude will expand the awareness requirements for the distribution utility, which would benefit from increasing observability into customer-sited resources to maximize the value of these emerging grid-edge functions and services [97].…”