EPRI recognizes ISO-NE’s resource adequacy work with Technology Transfer Award 

EPRI, a global, nonprofit energy research and development organization, recently recognized ISO New England’s Steven Judd, manager, Resource Adequacy & Accreditation, for supporting a project that will help ensure the region has sufficient resources to meet demand for electricity in a decarbonized future. 

Each year, EPRI’s Energy Delivery and Customer Solutions (ED&CS) sector presents Technology Transfer Awards to professionals who have implemented EPRI technologies and processes to benefit their companies and the industry at large. The people and companies honored exemplify the collaboration and leadership that drive progress in the industry and benefit society. 

The project, Resource Adequacy for a Decarbonized Future, involved six case studies examining how an increase in renewables might affect the number of resources the grid needs to operate reliably. One of the case studies simulated multiple possible scenarios for the Northeast grid, including New England, with varying degrees of winter fuel supplies, demand for electricity, and potential changes to the limits on how much power can flow over the region’s transmission elements. 

“Steven and his team’s research on the future of resource adequacy is vital to ongoing reliability as the grid evolves,” said Vamsi Chadalavada, the ISO’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. “Continuing to improve our methodologies in this area helps the ISO as we embark on our Capacity Auction Reforms project and design the new capacity market.” 

EPRI said the resource adequacy project developed “new approaches for adequacy assessment that will ensure the industry can transition to a cleaner resource mix and face extreme events with a more accurate assessment of the types of risks being faced.”

Among other takeaways, the project indicated that times of risk for the grid’s reliability are shifting from afternoon to evening as more renewables come online, and that potential wintertime outages of natural gas needed for both heating and electricity generation pose challenges as the region transitions to a winter-peaking system. 

“It is essential for the electric sector to ensure a reliable supply of electricity to meet customer needs at all times,” said Daniel Brooks, senior vice president of Energy Delivery and Customer Solutions at EPRI. “Leading companies like ISO New England, who are innovating risk assessment methods to ensure resource adequacy, are critical to shaping the future of energy.”