Grid-interactive Efficient Buildings (GEBs) and Connected Communities for Grid Resilience and Decarbonization: Challenges, Opportunities and Lessons Learned

While modern houses and commercial buildings are becoming grid-interactive with advanced optimization, and control capabilities, i.e., grid-interactive efficient building (GEMs). Connecting multiple adjacent GEMs and distributed energy resources (DERs) in distribution grids to form networked connected communities provide a more efficient, carbon-free, and resilient future. Under FERC order 2222, GEBs and connected communities are expected to actively participate in the operation of the grid provide multi-time-scale ancillary services. In addition, recent extreme events have motivated increasing deployment of GEBs and connected communities to provide user-end resilience. Interconnecting adjacent GEMs and connected communities could facilitate maximizing overall system resilience through sharing capacities and flexibilities with each other as well as restoring neighborhood critical loads. GEBs and connected communities in distribution grids are necessary for achieving both decarbonization goals and resiliency improvements. In this panel, researchers from national laboratories, universities, EPRI and microgrid communities in Puerto Rico will present their state-of-the-art solutions for enhancing grid resiliency and facilitating grid decarbonization by leveraging GEBs and connected communities. Particularly, lessons learned from real world GEBs/microgrids demonstration will be presented. Presentations in this panel session: - Microgrid Orchestrator Develop for Resilient Operation of Networked Community Microgrids with High Solar Penetration: Adjuntas Networked Microgrids, Puerto Rico (23PESGM3917)