Cold Weather Technical Conference
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Mark Henry
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The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) held a Cold Weather Project Technical Conference on November 12, 2024. It began with opening remarks from NERC and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), followed by a review of FERC’s seven directives to modify EOP-012 from June. Key throughout the conference were concerns about constraints, costs, and process.
The first round of presentations focused on technical limitations of equipment from the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) perspective. Siemens’ representative discussed vulnerabilities that affect rotating generator machinery, in contrast to the usual focus on freezing susceptibilities affecting operation of boilers and turbines in thermal generation. Next, SMA covered solar inverter concerns in cold conditions, then wind generation limitations from Siemens-Gamesa, followed by a vigorous Q&A session.
The second set of presentations and panel Q&A focused on defining constraints from an operator/owner perspective. FERC’s request to remove cost as a factor was the crux of the discussion, followed by process concerns in how Regions evaluate deadline extension requests for Corrective Action Plans (CAPs) after an Extreme Cold Weather event. Curtis Crews from the Western Electric Coordinating Council (WECC) and NERC’s Derek Kassimer gave a rundown on the constraint and CAP extension review processes from the Electric reliability Organization (ERO) perspective followed by robust panel discussion.
Lastly, Texas RE, SERC, and the Northeast Power Coordinating Council (NPCC) focused on best practices for winter weather readiness based on respective Regional experiences. Presenters covered successful methods for winterizing equipment along with personnel engagement, logistics, management support, and communications.
The session ended with the drafting team leaders discussing the timeline leading up to the March 27 submission date, and the desire to avoid the NERC Board of Trustees’ 321 process (that was used for the Inverter-Based Resource (IBR) Milestone 2 Standards). The Standard Drafting Team met the following day to consider adjustments based on the discussion. The goal is to produce a version that is acceptable to all and can pass the ballot to meet FERC’s March deadline. The slides and a recording of the event are available below.
