•activities•
unifi's activities are structured around three Thrusts: research & development (R&D); demonstration & commercialization (D&C); and outreach & training (O&T) • these Thrusts are set up to:
fostering an ecosystem to enable researchers, industry partners, and other stakeholders collaboratively pursue advances in GFM tech
defining system-level guidelines and unit-level functions to prove vendor-agnostic interoperability of GFM tech
conducting research, development, and demonstration as well as formulate effective mechanisms for workforce training
research & development
the R&D thrust will address fundamental questions pertaining to GFM technologies through activities organized under the following Areas
modeling & simulation focusing on interoperability
controls covering primary- and secondary-layer operations
hardware prototyping at lab scales
integration & validation to translate designs to practice
they target the development of a framework to facilitate interoperability at the level of primary control for GFM IBRs and scalability at the level of secondary control for frequency and voltage regulation • snapshot of R&D activities is illustrated below •
models developed by the unifi modeling & simulation team continue to be adopted across the industry • some examples of electromagnetic-domain and positive-sequence models for GFM IBRs are given below
droop-based GFM model specification (REGFM_A1) has been adopted by WECC • this model is available in the model libraries of 4 commercial positive-sequence tools (PSS/E, PSLF, PowerWorld, and TSAT) •
control blocks of REGFM_A1
EMT models of PV inverter based resource in GFL and GFM mode • model includes an interoperable primary control grid forming system architecture that is designed for use with both individual IBRs and aggregations • the design is intended to coexist with vendor specific proprietary controls that exchange standardized signals with the system operator to regulate frequency and voltages, or to manage black start •
generic EMTP model for a three-phase aggregated grid-forming inverter (GFM inverter) • applications include stability, fault, harmonic, dynamic, and interconnection studies • the GFM inverter can be modeled as: droop- based, virtual synchronous machine (VSM)-based, dispatchable virtual oscillator (dVOC)-based, or a PLL-based •
demonstration & commercialization
the D&C Thrust focuses on continually translating methods, findings, and specifications from the R&D Thrust to practice • this will be achieved through four Areas:
a 20+MW flagship demo
intellectual property management that drives innovation across diverse stakeholder institutions
activities to spur domestic product development of GFM technologies
standards development
we are particularly interested in striking the right balance between controllability and diversity as we build out our demo • contact us if you have an opportunity in mind to showcase GFM tech via a demo at MW scale!
20+MW demo will aspire to strike the balance between controllability and diversity
outreach & training
activities in O&T will focus on fostering the necessary workforce and developing a cadre of professionals trained in GFM inverter technology • unifi will also revitalize university education and training programs and activities for industry professionals focusing on GFM technology • dissemination of unifi's R&D and D&C outcomes to the broader community and general public will also be shepherded by this Thrust • we also plan several in-person meetings including an annual all-team meeting •
unifi seminar series: as part of our outreach efforts, we are organizing a seminar series • videos from previous seminar series are available on our YouTube channel •
fall '21 lineup
spring '22 lineup
fall '22 lineup
spring'23 lineup
activities involved in unifi’s R&D, D&C, and O&T Thrusts are structured to mature with technology advancements over the project performance period • to facilitate this, unifi will organize efforts around an envisioned System Architecture for grids with high numbers of GFM IBRs and curate a set of Interoperability Guidelines (at the system level) and Functional Requirements (at the unit level); all of which are adaptable to (and expected to evolve with) technical, regulatory, and economic landscapes •
projected system architecture to integrate GFM technology into grids
interoperability guidelines & functional requirements will guide best practices for GFM integration at system & unit levels