| | MARCH 20258E ERGYTech ReviewIN MY OPINIONHOW THE ENERGY TRANSITION IS RESHAPING ENGINEERINGBy Christian López, Senior Director Engineering: Performance, Commissioning & SCADA, The AESIt is undeniable that we live in times of an energy transition. More frequently, we see the rising popularity of both solar and wind in the news, performing above expectations in markets with deep penetration. On May 8th, 2022, the sun shone and the wind blew, allowing renewables to produce 103% of California's electricity demand. We also saw how renewable energy provided 30 to 40% of the state's needed power as temperatures soared into the triple digits last summer in Texas. The reality is that how we design and operate our power grids has changed forever due to the presence of Renewables. Gone are the days when vertically integrated systems with one-way power flow were the norm. Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) are here to stay. Hence, all stakeholders involved in the energy sector have had to reshape how we think, talk, and, more importantly, how we design and operate our power grids and plants. Engineering is no exception to this group; therefore, the thought process of how engineering teams should perform and operate must evolve to meet the new industry and market needs. At the center of any business decision, it is always imperative to understand what the business drivers and goals are. It would be very different to build an engineering team in an organization where the sole focus is selling engineering services as opposed to building an engineering team for an organization where operating power plants is the core business. In the latter, some or most of the engineering designs are expected to be outsourced, while in the former, engineering is expected to be performed in-house. Both types of organizations differ primarily in their business models; hence, this needs to be considered when shaping and defining the role of engineering. A successful foundation for any engineering team depends mainly on understanding the organization's goals and business model and using that input to acquire and shape the engineering skill sets needed to help the organization reach its goals. Secondly, we can't map engineering growth within an organization without understanding the market, industry trends, and temporal or permanent technical challenges. For instance, we have seen how, in the last few years in the renewables sector, we have faced challenges that have questioned our ability to build projects. For instance, the procurement of Main Power Transformers (MPTs) or any other type of High Voltage (HV) equipment has doubled and, in some cases, tripled in lead times due to their high demand and low supply in the market. This has made it difficult for project developers and EPCs to secure equipment on time for construction and energization. Engineering standardization around HV equipment can solve this industry-wide problem by specificizing flexible equipment that can be deployed across multiple projects rather than project-specific equipment customization. This can allow organizations to make critical business decisions to favor projects with higher returns in the event of equipment scarcity. Another example is the increasing minimum technical requirements now demanded by the National Reliability Electric Corporation (NERC), Independent System Operators (ISOs), and Transmission Operators (TOPs) when it comes to the performance of DERs during transient events in the Bulk Power System (BPS). The reality is that as the Christian López
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