The power grid is seeing a surge in modern tech like wind turbines, solar panels, and battery storage. But as we add more of these, we’re also spotting some hiccups.
Recently, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) dropped a report about some weird stuff happening with battery storage in California in 2022. On March 9 and April 6, there were a couple of glitches that, honestly, shouldn’t have been a big deal, but they were.
NERC said these glitches were the first of their kind involving battery storage. Ryan Quint from NERC weighed in, saying, “These glitches hint that the issues we’ve seen with other modern tech might pop up with battery storage too.” He added that since battery storage is a big player in our energy future, we’ve got to make sure they’re set up right and work smoothly.
Digging deeper, NERC found that battery storage might have the same quirks as solar panels. Plus, when connecting these batteries to the grid, we might not be checking them as thoroughly as we should. And, let’s be real, some of the setup practices have been a bit sloppy.
Another thing? We’re not keeping a close enough eye on how these systems are doing, which makes it hard to figure out what went wrong when something does.
A Friendly Tip for Those Running Generators:
NERC suggests checking in with the folks who made your inverters. Make sure they won’t trip up because of:
- Random spikes in AC current
- Overvoltage on the DC bus
- Wonky DC bus voltage
Also, keep a record of how your inverters and plants are doing. Make sure the data logs quickly and doesn’t get stuck if there’s a glitch.
NERC and WECC are like, “Hey, industry folks, let’s get on top of these recommendations, okay?” They, along with some regional partners, will keep an eye on any other weirdness with modern tech in the grid. They’ll share what they find so everyone’s in the loop and can take action. Let’s keep the lights on and the tech running smoothly!
Emmanuel is a committed and safety-driven graduate of Electrical and Electronics Engineering with professional interests in renewable energy systems and power system engineering.
