03-26-26
Press release from ERCOT
(Austin, TX) – The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT) today announced a collaboration with The University of Texas (UT) at Austin to study how fast-growing inverter-based technologies, like those used in solar, wind, and battery storage systems, can enhance grid reliability. Today’s announcement is part of ERCOT’s ongoing efforts to utilize emerging technologies and innovation to meet growing electric demand.
Inverter-based technologies generate electricity as Direct Current (DC) — the same type of power stored in a household battery — which must be converted to Alternating Current (AC) before it can flow into the grid. This conversion is handled automatically by an electronic device called an inverter. As these technologies become an increasingly larger part of the grid, understanding their impact is critical to maintaining reliable power for Texas homes and businesses.
As part of ERCOT’s Grid Research, Innovation, and Transformation (GRIT) program, UT will help ERCOT anticipate challenges related to simulation platforms, control interactions, and power quality issues that may come with very high penetrations of inverter-based resources on the Texas electric grid.
“Given the complexity and rapid development of this technology, this collaboration will help us look into the future, anticipate challenges, and identify solutions while we still have some time to prepare,” said Prashant Kansal, ERCOT Director of Grid Transformation. “By combining ERCOT’s operational insights and UT’s research expertise, Texans will benefit from a stronger, more reliable grid.”
Under this partnership, UT researchers will build computer simulations and models of inverter-based resources interconnected with the electric grid to test reliability in a range of potential real-world scenarios.
“Inverter-based resources are emerging rapidly and are very promising. However, their controllers introduce new behavior in grids and must be carefully coordinated,” said Professor Brian Johnson of UT’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
UT Professor Surya Santoso noted, “By studying their behavior under a wide variety of control and operating conditions, reliability, harmonics, and other power-quality-interaction risks can be better understood and managed.”
The findings will help determine whether these risks warrant additional monitoring and guide the implementation of mitigation strategies.
Fred Huang, ERCOT Senior Director, Grid Stability Analysis, said, “The ability to identify potential issues before they arise and develop practical solutions applicable to real-world grid operations helps ERCOT create a more reliable grid to serve Texans and meet the state’s evolving power needs.”
About Grid Research, Innovation, and Transformation (GRIT)
ERCOT’s Grid Research, Innovation, and Transformation (GRIT) initiative utilizes research and collaboration to identify and test emerging technologies that will better prepare the grid to meet increasing demands. Visit the GRIT webpages to learn more.
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ERCOT, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, manages the flow of electric power to more than 27 million Texas customers, representing about 90 percent of the state’s electric load. As the Independent System Operator for the region, ERCOT schedules power on an electric grid that connects 55,000+ miles of transmission lines and 1,460+ generation units, including Private Use Networks. ERCOT also performs financial settlement for the competitive wholesale bulk-power market and administers retail switching for more than 8 million premises in competitive choice areas. ERCOT is a membership-based 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporation, governed by a board of directors and subject to oversight by the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Texas Legislature.
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