CleanStart-DERMS

The Need. Utilities need to effectively handle a rapid distributed energy resources (DER) influx that can support resilience and reliability needs accounting for both controlled and uncontrolled resources, improving customer reconnection time after wide area outage and reducing reliance on diesel generators.

Objective. This project will validate and demonstrate, at scale, a DER-driven mitigation, blackstart, and restoration strategy for distribution feeders. It will include integration of applied robust control, communications, and analytics layers, and a coordinated hierarchical solution.

Planned Outcome. Developments in this project will reduce costs, increase availability and redundancy of blackstart generation, and improve customer reconnection time using real-time DER control tools. After successful implementation, customers benefitting from this this technology could be supplied after four hours.