Webinar: Modeling Inverter-Based Resources: Findings, Observations, and Challenges Ahead

Featured Speaker: Ryan Quint, Director, Engineering and Security Integration, NERC

About the Webinar: The industry relies on accurate and validated models that match reality in order to plan, design, and operate the bulk power system. When models do not match reality, this introduces potential risk for the grid being operated in a unknown and unprepared operating state. When the vast majority of models are deemed inaccurate or insufficient to identify abnormal performance from well over a dozen plants across multiple hundreds of miles, we should all be quite concerned that we are headed towards a very bad day. This presentation will discuss the current state of affairs and why industry needs to start doing something and not just admiring the problem. Industry is mired in academic arguments in this area that serve little to no value to industry practitioners who do the real work to keep the lights on. This presentation is a plea for industry to step up and correct widespread modeling errors that exist today.

This presentation will discuss key findings from analyzing widespread solar PV and wind events across multiple interconnections, particularly focused on plant dynamic modeling, model quality, and modeling practices. It will discuss the observations that NERC has made regarding modeling challenges facing the industry with respect to inverter-based resources connected to the bulk power system. Topics will focus on modeling challenges during the interconnection process, during plant commissioning, and limited performance validation (and model validation) that may lead to these issues. The presentation will wrap up with a discussion regarding next steps for industry and some of NERC’s plans for risk mitigation in this area.