PPL Electric Utilities cooperates with GE Power Digital on renewable, stored energy integration

A union of PPL Electric Utilities and Distributed Energy Technology is focused on Distributed Energy Resources (DER), seeking to better manage and control the integration of renewable and stored energy sources into the greater grid.

Both companies are focused on accelerating the progress of technology and guarantee grid reliability and have turned to localized generation, storage and other energy sources typically connected to the grid at the distribution level. It is a complex matter, as wind and solar are not constantly available, making their contributions to the grid in high flux — but availability to customers must be guaranteed.

This stresses the grid, according to Jeff Wright, vice president of product management for GE Power, meaning that proper planning and monitoring is required from new business and operating models to updated software. GE utilizes DER Orchestration software to automate and adapt technologies to such management, and PPL hopes to integrate it with their Advanced Distribution Management Solutions (ADMS).

“There will be more change in the electric utility industry over the next 10 years than we have experienced in the prior 100 years,” Matt Green, PPL’s chief information officer, said. “Distributed energy will be everywhere, but we’ll still need the grid. With the proper investments to successfully orchestrate DERs, the grid will become more valuable. Utilities are best positioned to provide the platform of the future and enable emerging technologies to thrive. To accomplish this, we need long-term strategic relationships such as the one we have established with GE.”

From the integration, PPL hopes to gain greater ability to model and improve grid operations, enhance reliability and forecasting, as well as improve bi-directional communication. The test of that will come within PPL’s territory, though both PPL and GE will be monitoring the effort.