PISCATAWAY, N.J., July 12, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The IEEE Industry Standards and Technology Organization (ISTO), an international federation of leading groups and consortia dedicated to the advancement of standardized technologies for the benefit of industry, today announces its newest member program, the UNIFI Consortium.
The Universal Interoperability for Grid-Forming Inverters (UNIFI) Consortium is a U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) funded effort to advance grid-forming (GFM) inverter technology, that is now officially forming as an unincorporated 501c6 not for profit with ISTO. UNIFI’s mission is to facilitate the transition of electric power grids around the world to seamlessly accommodate grid-forming technology across all power levels. To target this generational shift in the form and function of the power grid, the UNIFI team brings together leading researchers, industry stakeholders, utilities, and system operators to collaboratively pursue advances in a broad range of GFM technologies, led by DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), The University of Texas – Austin, and EPRI.
UNIFI aims to cultivate and foster a culture of engagement and innovation by bringing together expertise across technology sectors to identify and fill gaps in technologies, business models, standards, and human factors. In particular, UNIFI is conducting and coordinating research, development, and demonstration, as well as creating educational and workforce training materials focusing on planning, designing, and operating grids with a high level of GFM Inverter-based Resources (IBRs). Activities are organized around three areas: research & development (R&D), demonstration & commercialization (D&C), and outreach & training (O&T). UNIFI stays true to its name as it works to unify the integration of conventional power plants with inverter-based resources in power systems across all physical scales.
“The UNIFI Consortium is tackling the challenge of making sure that large power systems are capable of integrating as much wind, solar, batteries, and other inverter- based resources as possible while maintaining the operational stability, reliability, and resilience of the grid,” explains Ben Kroposki, NREL, UNIFI Consortium Organizational Director.
UNIFI’s relevance, value, and impact are centered around facilitating the integration of renewables, driving transportation electrification, and broadly expanding electrification efforts via cutting-edge grid-forming inverter technology. The Consortium is governed by UNIFI’s leadership team, composed of experts from across academia, industry, and research laboratories.
Dr. Daniel Burnett, IEEE-ISTO President and CEO, states “IEEE-ISTO welcomes the UNIFI Consortium as a new member program of IEEE-ISTO's Federation of Programs. IEEE-ISTO looks forward to collaborating on this important initiative in the power and energy space.”
UNIFI currently has 37 Members, including utilities, system operators, inverter manufacturers, renewable energy integrators, software vendors, research laboratories and universities. UNIFI is accepting membership applications from organizations looking to contribute to the advancement of GFM technology, drive cutting edge research and specification development, and network with leading industry experts. UNIFI offers various membership tiers to accommodate different needs and levels of participation.
For more information, please visit the UNIFI website at https://unificonsortium.org.
For media inquiries please contact info@unificonsortium.org.
