Smart grid Update Newsletter July 2014

July 2014

• NIST to Host Cyber-Physical Systems Public Working Group Workshop on August 11-12
• SGIP to Launch New Priority Action Plan ("Testing Profiles for IEC 61850") with Open Teleconference Meeting on July 29
• NIST's Smart Grid Federal Advisory Committee Meets, Releases Report on Three Key Emerging Issues
• SGIP Establishes New Priority Action Plan on "Microgrid Operational Interfaces"
• SGIP Update

Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) are co-engineered interacting networks of physical and computational components. These "smart" systems—with the smart grid as a leading example—are at the heart of our critical infrastructures and form the basis of future smart services, including the Internet of Things. These systems promise increased efficiency and interaction between computer networks and the physical world, enabling advances that improve our quality of life in fields such as electric power generation and delivery, personalized health care, emergency response, and traffic flow management.

On August 11-12, 2014, NIST will host the first face-to-face meeting of the new Cyber-Physical Systems Public Working Group (CPS PWG), which was formed to facilitate broad collaboration and build a unified technical foundation that accelerates progress in CPS across all domains. The purpose of the workshop is to develop consensus around the scope, milestones, and work program for the CPS PWG and its sub-groups.

All are welcome to participate in the workshop (NIST campus in Gaithersburg, MD) and the CPS PWG, and participation is free. For event information and to register, visit http://nist.gov/cps/cps-pwg-workshop.cfm

Please note that pre-registration is required, and the registration deadline is Monday, August 4.

The Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP) has established a new priority action plan, PAP-23: "Testing for IEC 61850/Basic Application Profiles." NIST's Dean Prochaska is vice chair for this working group, and Erich Gunther, EnerNex, is the chair.

IEC 61850, Power Utility Automation, is a widely recognized standard for substation automation. A survey recently conducted by SGIP's Smart Grid Testing and Certification Committee identified IEC 61850-related testing as a top priority for utilities and vendors.

The PAP-23 working group is now being formed, and it will hold an open teleconference on Tuesday, July 29, 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. EDT. The teleconference is open to all SGIP members, as well as all non-members interested in the topic. Utilities and vendors involved in or planning IEC 61850-based implementations are encouraged to participate.

To participate in the July 29 meeting, use the following link:

https://www4.gotomeeting.com/join/889894447

Participants can then use their microphones and speakers (VoIP); a headset is recommended. Or participants can call in using the following phone number:

Dial +1 (213) 493-0603
Access Code: 889-894-447

The PAP-23 working group will also hold an open in-person meeting on September 16 during the SGIP Annual Conference taking place in Nashville, TN (see "SGIP Update" below for conference details).

The work of PAP-23 will be informed by lessons learned from past experiences, and PAP-23 will be aligned to best support the needs of companies planning future implementations. The group will coordinate with industry standards activities (e.g., IEC, IEEE, UCAIug, and ENTSO-E) to help assure collaboration and consistency across stakeholder groups in the development of Basic Application Profiles (BAP) used for IEC 61850 testing initiatives. These BAP provide the additional constraints and definitions needed in order to achieve the promise of multi-vendor interoperability and lower the cost of systems integration using IEC 61850.

The role of NIST's Smart Grid Advisory Committee is to provide input to NIST on smart grid standards, priorities, and gaps—and on the overall direction, status, and health of the smart grid implementation by the smart grid industry—including identification of issues and needs. The committee is chaired by David Owens (Executive Vice President, Business Operations, Edison Electric Institute), and Evan Gaddis (President and Chief Executive Officer, National Electrical Manufacturers Association) serves as vice chair. The committee meets approximately two times a year, and the most recent meeting was held at NIST-Gaithersburg on June 3-4, 2014.

A major focus of the June meeting was to provide strategic input to NIST on three key emerging issues that will drive significant change over the next five to ten years: transactive energy, resilience, and distributed energy resources. A report, based on the committee's discussions at that meeting, has just been released and is available online.

Earlier this month, the SGIP Board of Directors approved the establishment of PAP-24: "Microgrid Operational Interfaces." NIST's Al Hefner is the vice chair for this working group, and Jim Reilly, Reilly Associates, is the chair.

The PAP-24 working group is seeking interested members, and it will hold an open in-person meeting on Tuesday, September 16, during the SGIP Annual Conference taking place in Nashville, TN (see "SGIP Update" below for conference details). The PAP-24 meeting is open to all conference attendees, including both SGIP members and non-members.

In recent months, the topic of microgrids has received increased attention across the smart grid community. The concept of the microgrid has evolved to fully recognize the benefits of microgrids in terms of market participation, renewable integration, cost savings, and reliability and resiliency to the grid.

PAP-24 will conduct its work through the collection and development of use cases, including use cases developed in coordination with utilities. The use cases will aid in defining interoperability requirements for microgrid standards related to topics such as:

• the impact of high penetrations of DER on low voltage systems,
• the impact of high penetrations of DER on RTO/ISO/TSO operations, and
• the role that microgrids can play in mitigating these impacts.

Use case deliverables will include functional and interactive use cases for microgrid controllers and interconnection equipment, and their registration in the EPRI Use Case Repository.

• SGIP's 2014 Annual Conference and Fall Members Meeting will be held September 15-18 in Nashville, TN. The annual conference features presentations in three tracks:

• Data Transmission and Grid Protection

• Distributed Generation and Renewables Integration

• Storm Resiliency and Restoration
  

Richard A. Clarke, Chairman and CEO of Good Harbor and an internationally recognized expert on cybersecurity, homeland security, national security, and counterterrorism, will be providing the closing keynote address. See the SGIP website for full details, including agenda, venue, and registration.

• "Transactive Energy: A Moderated Discussion" was the subject of a public webinar on Thursday, July 24. Four speakers, including NIST's David Holmberg, presented a follow-up to the "Cross-DEWG Discussion on Transactive Energy" session held in May at the SGIP Spring 2014 Members Meeting. A recording of the webinar, along with a copy of the slide presentations, is now available on SGIP's Webinars webpage.

• SGIP announced that a new series of standards— the ANSI/CEA-709/852 series—has now been added to the Catalog of Standards. Developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), these standards are used for a variety of smart grid applications including in-home/in-building communications and control, smart metering, demand response, electric-vehicle charging, distribution-network management, and street-lighting applications (for energy conservation). With the addition of these standards, the Catalog has seven new items since March of this year.

• Two new priority action plans, PAP-23 and PAP-24, have been established by the SGIP Board of Directors. Articles elsewhere in this newsletter (see above) provide information about these two working groups, along with details about upcoming meetings that will be open to both SGIP members and interested non-members.