Interoperable, Inverter - Based Distributed Energy Resources Enable 100% Renewable and Resilient Utility Microgrids

Laurence Abcede; Alie Blankenship; Andrew Moradpour; Mary Aragon; Jose Cardenas; Nagadev Shamukh; Kimberly McGrath; Annabelle Pratt; Kumaraguru Prabakar; Martha Symko-Davies

doi:10.1109/GridEdge61154.2025.10887429

Interoperable, Inverter - Based Distributed Energy Resources Enable 100% Renewable and Resilient Utility Microgrids

Laurence Abcede, Alie Blankenship, Andrew Moradpour, Mary Aragon, Jose Cardenas, Nagadev Shamukh, Kimberly McGrath, Annabelle Pratt, Kumaraguru Prabakar, Martha Symko-Davies

San Diego Gas & Electric

Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper

Abstract

As microgrids transition away from use of conventional generating resources and increasingly rely on renewable resources towards decarbonization goals, it is crucial to evaluate the capability inverter-based resources to provide microgrid stability and resilience. Particularly, microgrids with a high contribution of intermittent solar photo voltaic generation and higher load variability present unique challenges requiring fast voltage and frequency support. At the San Diego Gas & Electric Company(R) (SDG&E(R)) Borrego Springs Microgrid, a battery inverter was upgraded with grid-forming (GFM) capability to serve as island leader, transitioning responsibility away from diesel generators. An interoperable microgrid control scheme was developed, coordinating GFM and grid-following (GFL) inverters. Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulations using relevant power and controller HIL interfaces between real-time simulators and field equipment are being conducted to de-risk field deployment.

Original language	American English
Number of pages	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/GridEdge61154.2025.10887429
State	Published - 2025
Event	2025 IEEE PES Grid Edge Technologies Conference & Exposition (Grid Edge) - San Diego, California Duration: 21 Jan 2025 → 23 Jan 2025

Conference

Conference	2025 IEEE PES Grid Edge Technologies Conference & Exposition (Grid Edge)
City	San Diego, California
Period	21/01/25 → 23/01/25

Bibliographical note

See NREL/CP-5D00-89617 for preprint

NREL Publication Number

NREL/CP-5D00-94334

Keywords

battery energy storage
black-start
frequency and voltage support
grid-forming inverter
hardware-in-the-loop
islanding
microgrids
real-time automation control
ultracapacitors
utility-scale DERs

Access to Document

10.1109/GridEdge61154.2025.10887429

Cite this

Abcede, L., Blankenship, A., Moradpour, A., Aragon, M., Cardenas, J., Shamukh, N., McGrath, K., Pratt, A., Prabakar, K., & Symko-Davies, M. (2025). Interoperable, Inverter - Based Distributed Energy Resources Enable 100% Renewable and Resilient Utility Microgrids. Paper presented at 2025 IEEE PES Grid Edge Technologies Conference & Exposition (Grid Edge), San Diego, California. https://doi.org/10.1109/GridEdge61154.2025.10887429

@conference{b7ff8df47ff645708cae6a72b6f5b9a2,

title = "Interoperable, Inverter - Based Distributed Energy Resources Enable 100% Renewable and Resilient Utility Microgrids",

abstract = "As microgrids transition away from use of conventional generating resources and increasingly rely on renewable resources towards decarbonization goals, it is crucial to evaluate the capability inverter-based resources to provide microgrid stability and resilience. Particularly, microgrids with a high contribution of intermittent solar photo voltaic generation and higher load variability present unique challenges requiring fast voltage and frequency support. At the San Diego Gas & Electric Company(R) (SDG&E(R)) Borrego Springs Microgrid, a battery inverter was upgraded with grid-forming (GFM) capability to serve as island leader, transitioning responsibility away from diesel generators. An interoperable microgrid control scheme was developed, coordinating GFM and grid-following (GFL) inverters. Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulations using relevant power and controller HIL interfaces between real-time simulators and field equipment are being conducted to de-risk field deployment.",

keywords = "battery energy storage, black-start, frequency and voltage support, grid-forming inverter, hardware-in-the-loop, islanding, microgrids, real-time automation control, ultracapacitors, utility-scale DERs",

author = "Laurence Abcede and Alie Blankenship and Andrew Moradpour and Mary Aragon and Jose Cardenas and Nagadev Shamukh and Kimberly McGrath and Annabelle Pratt and Kumaraguru Prabakar and Martha Symko-Davies",

note = "See NREL/CP-5D00-89617 for preprint; 2025 IEEE PES Grid Edge Technologies Conference & Exposition (Grid Edge) ; Conference date: 21-01-2025 Through 23-01-2025",

year = "2025",

doi = "10.1109/GridEdge61154.2025.10887429",

language = "American English",

}

Abcede, L, Blankenship, A, Moradpour, A, Aragon, M, Cardenas, J, Shamukh, N, McGrath, K, Pratt, A , Prabakar, K & Symko-Davies, M 2025, 'Interoperable, Inverter - Based Distributed Energy Resources Enable 100% Renewable and Resilient Utility Microgrids', Paper presented at 2025 IEEE PES Grid Edge Technologies Conference & Exposition (Grid Edge), San Diego, California, 21/01/25 - 23/01/25. https://doi.org/10.1109/GridEdge61154.2025.10887429

TY - CONF

T1 - Interoperable, Inverter - Based Distributed Energy Resources Enable 100% Renewable and Resilient Utility Microgrids

AU - Abcede, Laurence

AU - Blankenship, Alie

AU - Moradpour, Andrew

AU - Aragon, Mary

AU - Cardenas, Jose

AU - Shamukh, Nagadev

AU - McGrath, Kimberly

AU - Pratt, Annabelle

AU - Prabakar, Kumaraguru

AU - Symko-Davies, Martha

N1 - See NREL/CP-5D00-89617 for preprint

PY - 2025

Y1 - 2025

N2 - As microgrids transition away from use of conventional generating resources and increasingly rely on renewable resources towards decarbonization goals, it is crucial to evaluate the capability inverter-based resources to provide microgrid stability and resilience. Particularly, microgrids with a high contribution of intermittent solar photo voltaic generation and higher load variability present unique challenges requiring fast voltage and frequency support. At the San Diego Gas & Electric Company(R) (SDG&E(R)) Borrego Springs Microgrid, a battery inverter was upgraded with grid-forming (GFM) capability to serve as island leader, transitioning responsibility away from diesel generators. An interoperable microgrid control scheme was developed, coordinating GFM and grid-following (GFL) inverters. Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulations using relevant power and controller HIL interfaces between real-time simulators and field equipment are being conducted to de-risk field deployment.

AB - As microgrids transition away from use of conventional generating resources and increasingly rely on renewable resources towards decarbonization goals, it is crucial to evaluate the capability inverter-based resources to provide microgrid stability and resilience. Particularly, microgrids with a high contribution of intermittent solar photo voltaic generation and higher load variability present unique challenges requiring fast voltage and frequency support. At the San Diego Gas & Electric Company(R) (SDG&E(R)) Borrego Springs Microgrid, a battery inverter was upgraded with grid-forming (GFM) capability to serve as island leader, transitioning responsibility away from diesel generators. An interoperable microgrid control scheme was developed, coordinating GFM and grid-following (GFL) inverters. Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulations using relevant power and controller HIL interfaces between real-time simulators and field equipment are being conducted to de-risk field deployment.

KW - battery energy storage

KW - black-start

KW - frequency and voltage support

KW - grid-forming inverter

KW - hardware-in-the-loop

KW - islanding

KW - microgrids

KW - real-time automation control

KW - ultracapacitors

KW - utility-scale DERs

U2 - 10.1109/GridEdge61154.2025.10887429

DO - 10.1109/GridEdge61154.2025.10887429

M3 - Paper

T2 - 2025 IEEE PES Grid Edge Technologies Conference & Exposition (Grid Edge)

Y2 - 21 January 2025 through 23 January 2025

ER -

Interoperable, Inverter - Based Distributed Energy Resources Enable 100% Renewable and Resilient Utility Microgrids

Abstract

Conference

Bibliographical note

NREL Publication Number

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this