DDS™ - The Proven Data Connectivity Standard for IoT™ Nov. 2016 | Page 16

CASE STUDIES

Duke Energy Leads Standardization of a New
Interoperability Framework for its Microgrid
Reference Architecture
CHALLENGE
Traditional central-station power grids operate on 15-minute output update cycles that result in operators
over-generating power to compensate for variation in power generation or demand. To efficiently integrate
distributed energy resources, the grid needs fast-reacting intelligence at the edge.

SOLUTION
Duke Energy is committed to distributed
intelligence and establishing a grid that is
more simple and cost-effective to operate.
The company partnered with 25 utilities,
vendors, research labs and government
agencies to form the Coalition of the Willing
(COW-II). The goal of the Coalition is to lead
the development and commercialization of
a field device interoperability framework,
known as the Open Field Message Bus
(OpenFMB™).
This framework is a standards-based solution to reduce implementation complexity and integration costs
and was formally adopted by two task forces within the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP) and the
North America Energy Standards Board (NAESB).

BENEFITS
The Coalition has demonstrated there are alternative ways to achieve enhanced microgrid operations. The
microgrid test bed exhibits a diverse set of technologies that all communicate in the Data-Distribution Service (DDS), Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT) or advanced message queue protocol (AMQP) open
IoT pub/sub protocols, including the following assets:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

100-kW PV solar system with smart inverter capabilities
250-kW battery energy storage system
10kW solar carport with EV charging capabilities
500-kW automated resistive load-bank
Instrumented and automated distribution grid equipment, such as reclosers, smart meters,
sensors and PMUs
6. Wireless devices, supporting Wi-Fi, 4G LTE, 900 MHz RF and AMI Mesh
7. An envision room with appliances and smart breaker monitoring and control capabilities
8. An operations room with commercial application software to monitor and control the microgrid components
This project has offered a transferable test harness and validated baseline for the upcoming utility test beds
at CPS Energy, Southern California Edison, EPRI, NREL, Oak Ridge Labs and other utilities and national labs
that plan to implement the OpenFMB reference architecture.

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