SEPA publishes new distributed energy resources guide

The Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) recently issued a report on the capability of distributed energy resources (DERs) to support grid reliability as more intermittent renewables are integrated into the energy system.

The “Distributed Energy Resources Capabilities Guide,” the third installment in SEPA’s Beyond the Meter series, evaluates each DER for its ability to contribute particular types of support.

“Our impetus for writing this report is to help familiarize utility planners and grid operators with these resources now, so they can integrate them into their systems as energy markets and regulatory landscapes evolve — and the technologies get even better,” Ryan Edge, SEPA research analyst and lead author on the report, said.

SEPA published the guide in order to present cost-effective alternatives to expensive peaker plants usually employed by utilities and regulators. Going forward, Edge said DERs could provide a flexible and less costly solution.

Carmine Tilghman, senior director of Energy Supply at Tucson Electric Power, which is currently conducting a number of DER pilots, said, “With so many technologies and programs, coupled with varying operational and reliability requirements around the country, it can sometimes be difficult to sort fact from fiction when discussing the capabilities of these distributed resources.”

“SEPA does a great job identifying the various technologies and providing simple, accurate explanations of the necessary services and what they mean,” he added.