Technical Brief on Data Collection Recommendations for Distributed Energy Resources

The North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) Distributed Energy Resource Task Force's technical brief on Data Collection Recommendations for Distributed Energy Resources summarizes the distributed energy resources (DER)-related information needs by grid-related role.

Technical Report

Technical Brief on Data Collection Recommendations for Distributed Energy Resources (NERC 2018)
This brief is organized according to key grid-entities and describes a set of data that may be useful for each industry group. The document is not a NERC standard (requirement).

Topics Covered

Significant DER penetration levels, and projections for significant DER growth necessitate an improved understanding and sharing of information about DERs for the planning and operation of the grid, both at the local and bulk-system levels. NERC identifies multiple grid entities that are affected by DERs and include the following:

Balancing authorities
Distribution providers
Distribution operators
Distribution system protection engineers
Distribution planners
Transmission operators
Transmission planners and planning coordinators.

Key Takeaways

Many industry groups can be affected by DERs and each will need varying levels of detail, depending on the characteristics of their systems and the level of DER deployment. NERC recommends particular attention is paid to affects at the transmission-distribution interface and cites a more detailed resource to understand the interface-data to ensure reliable operation, Distributed Energy Resources: Connection Modeling and Reliability Considerations.