by: Debjyoti Chatterjee-

UNIFI consortium members, members of our external advisory board, and DOE technical program managers recently gathered at the NREL campus in Golden, CO, for our first ‘GFM week’ and third General Meeting. Set against the stunning backdrop of the Rocky Mountains, the event brought together stakeholders from industry, academia, system operators, utilities, and OEMs, all immersed in captivating discussions about the latest developments in GFM technology worldwide.

Organized over five days from July 15th to July 19th, the event featured a series of tutorials, an overview of the second version of UNIFI specifications for grid-forming inverters, and updates from consortium areas and cross-cut teams. Key discussions included the system-level impacts of GFM current limiters, particularly on stability and protection, OEMs’ and system operators’ perspectives on GFM specifications and the latest standards, WECC-approved GFM models, recent advancements in generic models, the necessity of EMT studies, and insights from KIUC’s experience with a 100% IBR-based grid operation. UNIFI members made tours to NREL’s Energy System Integration Facility (ESIF) and Flatirons campus to witness supercomputing facility, advanced 3-D visualization technology, 1-3 MW wind turbines, 20 MW grid simulator, etc.

One of the highlights of the event was a 1 MW multi-vendor experiment at ESIF. This demonstration covered interoperability of GFM and GFL units, black-start by GFM units, grid-connected and islanded operation, and more, providing a real-world setup to validate key learnings.

Javier Moscoso-Cabera, a senior undergraduate at UPR, delivered a thought-provoking and inspirational talk on energy realities in Puerto Rico and how the UNIFI consortium collectively contributes to addressing these challenges. Apart from the week-long technical discussions and debates, UNIFI members hit another milestone as they conquered the 14,265 ft Blue Sky Mt.

UNIFI members assembled outside the beautiful NREL café for the group picture

July 17, 2024 — Participants of the 2024 Universal Interoperability for Grid-Forming Inverters (UNFI) Consortium pose for a group photo on campus at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) South Table Mountain campus. UNIFI brings together leading researchers, industry stakeholders, utilities, and system operators to collaboratively pursue advances in grid-forming inverter technologies. (Photo by Gregory Cooper / NREL)

A team of NREL researchers including Dr. Jing Wang, Mr. Subhankar Ganguly, and Dr. Soham Chakraborty are demonstrating the 1 MW multi-vendor experiment

Lunch and learn session: Energy scenarios in Puerto Rico

UNIFI members visited NREL’s magnificent Flatiron campus

UNIFI reached a 14er! The fun evening ended with a sumptuous dinner and a lot of laughter!

The UNIFI consortium, under IEEE-ISTO, also set up a booth in IEEE PESGM 2024 to showcase our work and attract new members.