Overview of Functional Technical Requirements for Intentional Islands

This NREL report provides informative material on the requirements related to intentional islands in Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Standard 1547-2018 (IEEE Std 1547-2018) as well as context and background to improve understanding and use of the requirements specified.

Topics Covered

This overview of intentional islands includes

• Common types of intentional island configurations
• High-level summaries of industry standards that address aspects of intentional island implementation and interconnection
• Discussion of specific standards that apply during the islanding operational stages.

Key Takeaways

Motivations for deploying an intentional island vary. The desire to improve resilience during abnormal grid conditions, extreme weather events, or other prolonged outages are most prominent. In certain locales, environmental stewardship and pursuing policies for renewable energy deployment.

An islanding event can be thought of as four separate modes of operation: (1) parallel (grid-connected) operation, (2) transition to islanded operation, (3) islanded operation, and (4) transition to parallel operation. During each stage, which can vary in duration, the intentional island must conform to specific requirements and exercise the functions relevant for that mode of operation. The intended behavior during these operational stages must be considered in the planning and design stage of the intentional island life cycle. This paper provides a detailed review of the requirements specified in IEEE Std 1547-2018 and IEEE Std 2030.7, in each of the four modes of operation.