AspenTech’s Digital Grid Management team and Portland General Electric (PGE) have partnered since 2006 to ensure reliable, safe and advanced real-time operations of PGE’s electric grid serving over 1.9 million people with over 21 MW-hours generated and delivered across 1,250 miles of transmission line and 28,800 miles of distribution line. PGE is actively using AspenTech’s industry-leading DGM automation solutions to manage power generation, transmission, distribution and distributed energy resources.

As a forward-thinking utility, PGE has ambitious clean energy goals that require collaboration and innovation with digital technology partners such as AspenTech. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2040 requires significant investment in large renewable generation resources as well as distributed energy resources such as rooftop solar, electric vehicle infrastructure and Virtual Power Plants.

In 2022, PGE was awarded $6.5 million from the U.S. Department of Energy Connected Communities Program to fund their SALMON (SmartGrid Asset Load Management & Optimized Neighborhood) project. Project SALMON is a collaboration between PGE, AspenTech and National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) to demonstrate 1.4 MW of flexible loads through retrofitting approximately 580 buildings in Portland, OR with various measures including smart thermostats, smart water heaters, high-efficiency HVAC, solar with smart inverters, storage, and managed electric vehicle charging. The goals of this product include engaging the community with a special focus on low-income and traditionally underserved residents facing gentrification as well as demonstrating a range of flexible grid services, such as voltage management, frequency response, and bulk service provisioning.

To support this project, AspenTech has replicated a portion of PGE’s distribution network on NREL’s ADMS Test Bed located in their laboratory in Golden, Colorado. The system at NREL will test the following use cases in a controlled lab environment before being rolled out on PGE’s system:

• Congestion relief: Real-time and day ahead using behind-the-meter DERs
• Voltage support: Real-power dispatch to raise or lower voltage
• Solar PV Optimization: schedule battery charging to soak excess renewables
• Regulation and sub-hourly dispatch: Integration of behind-the-meter DERs into Virtual Power Plants (VPPs’) to participate in market dispatch
• Peak Load Reduction: Day-ahead hourly schedules

AspenTech’s Dr. Eric Sortomme (Dr. DERMS) visited the NREL facilities to train NREL engineers on how to configure AspenTech’s software to test these use cases. Dr. Annabelle Pratt, Chief Engineer – Power Systems Engineering Center at NREL said, “We are excited to be part of this project that uses NREL’s laboratory facilities to support the electric utility industry in de-risking field deployments of grid flexibility demonstrations.”

Figure 1: Aspen Tech's Dr. Eric Sortomme and NREL's Ismael Mendoza in front of AspenTech’s DGM system inside NREL's ADMS Test Bed lab.

The results of this collaboration and testing will move forward the innovation of AspenTech’s ADMS and DERMS products to address the utility industry challenges of integrating renewables while utilizing DERs to improve grid health, meeting demand growth without the need for infrastructure upgrades by utilizing DERs to address grid congestion and supporting new demand patterns, enable market participation and maximize use of DERs across a spectrum of use cases.

The joint goal with the SALMON project is to collaborate, innovate and support advancements in digital technology to address the urgent needs of the utility industry due to the energy transition. AspenTech’s test bed will be live at NREL facilities in Golden, Colorado through 2027 and is available to visit and see an advanced utility control system at work. And, if you are attending NREL’s FAST DERMS Workshop in December, keep an eye out for our system.