Proposed Grid 2.0 protocol would enable ‘connect and manage’ for both load and generation

A team led by AES Corporation Senior Vice President Chris Shelton has published a proposed Grid 2.0 protocol that is designed as “a standardized, automated way to integrate load and supply” that can speed interconnection by relying on flexible service.

The flexible “connect and manage” approach for new generators used in the ERCOT transmission grid in Texas has been credited for the state’s rapid deployment of solar, wind and storage.

The proposed protocol could be voluntarily adopted by any utility or transmission grid operator willing to offer the protocol’s different levels of service flexibility, and by any owner of a new load or generator willing to accept the flexible service. Each interconnection customer would receive some amount of firm service plus three amounts of progressively less assured flexible service.

The protocol would manage new storage projects as network-directed buffers, reducing the need to call on flexibility.

The protocol’s authors see it as a standardized approach to various “connect and manage” arrangements for flexible service that transmission organizations PJM, SPP and ERCOT have announced, which are designed to enable speedy interconnection of flexible large loads.

Arguing that grid planning has historically relied on overbuilding infrastructure to accommodate peak demand periods that account for as little as 30 hours per year, the protocol’s authors say the electricity industry must decouple system access for new loads and generators from traditional reliability planning “while automatically protecting the grid.”

By allowing planners to separate the interconnection process for large customers from “critical peak” planning, the authors expect the protocol would lead to higher utilization of existing infrastructure and more affordable electricity, as infrastructure costs are spread across more kWh sold.

The protocol is designed to “serve and sit inside” the existing grid context “at any scale or scope.”

AJ Hall, a portfolio management director at AES and a co-author of the protocol, told pv magazine that “Version 1 of the protocol will likely first be deployed with a large load, because existing interconnection and transmission policies make this the easier implementation path.”

“That said, Grid 2.0 envisions a similar approach to integrating supply such as solar, wind, and storage,” he added.

AES owns several utilities and develops and owns generating plants, including renewable generators.

The publication’s five authors, including four from AES and one from energy storage firm Fluence, have formed a Grid 2.0 Task Force (G2TF) to further develop the protocol.

The authors say the G2TF was inspired by the Internet Engineering Task Force and its predecessors, “a small group of motivated industry leaders and researchers” whose work over decades “literally created the Internet.”

Noting that “a hallmark” of the IETF process for standards development has been its “request for comments” model, the authors have termed their proposal “G2TF RFC #1” and invited comments on the proposal, as well as new contributors to the process.

The document lists several categories of stakeholders participating in the task force, including hyperscalers, utilities, regulators, researchers, company labs, transmission grid operators, and federal agencies.

AJ Hall said the G2TF plans to develop two companion documents, one on expedited renewables interconnections under the Grid 2.0 standard and the other on network-directed storage under the standard.

The protocol lists as supporting organizations AES Next, LLC; Fluence; and Tapestry. Fluence, which was originally formed by AES and Siemens as a joint venture, is now partnering with Siemens and Nvidia to design data centers. Tapestry, a firm incubated by Google, has worked with PJM to streamline the interconnection application process for new generators.