Ghana: IEEE, Energy Commission Organise Workshop On Standards And Conformity Codes

Ghana’s Energy Commission and Electricity Company of Ghana, in collaboration with the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers SA(IEEE), have organised a workshop for regulators and Distributed Energy Resources (DER) stakeholders on the IEEE 1547™ standard and the IEEE 1547 Conformity Assessment Programme.

IEEE 1547-2018, IEEE Standard for Interconnection and Interoperability of Distributed Energy Resources (DER) with Associated Electric Power Systems Interfaces, is a widely adopted standard providing utilities, DER developers, regulators, service companies and equipment manufacturers, a uniform-set of consensus-based requirements for grid interconnection of DERs of any type and size.

IEEE 1547 has informed federal legislation and rule making, regulatory deliberations and critical utility engineering and business practices for DER interconnection in markets worldwide.

In a brief remark, Executive Secretary of Energy Commission, Ing. Oscar Amonoo-Neizer said: “IEEE 1547 and the IEEE Conformity Assessment Program (ICAP) certification programme will be crucial tools in Ghana’s ongoing adoption of distributed energy resources (DERs).

“It’s extremely challenging for the world’s policy makers to simultaneously keep on top of today’s dramatically changing technical landscape, anticipate tomorrow’s innovations and wisely evolve policies and regulations. Open, consensus standards such as IEEE 1547 are an indispensable connection fabric between the world’s technology and policy developers, and the ICAP certification process provides a singularly dependable and proven process for assuring IEEE 1547 commissioning compliance across implementation and interconnection of DERs of any type or size.”

On his part, Adam Newman, IEEE Senior Director of new business development and operations and IEEE Industry Standards and Technology (ISTO) Executive Relationship Manager, said: “It’s not uncommon for DER stakeholders around the world to take drastically different approaches to meeting requirements for commissioning in IEEE 1547. Given the rapid rise of varied renewable deployments around the world, the ICAP certification programme for IEEE 1547 commissioning is an increasingly valuable resource to utilities, DER developers, regulators, service companies and equipment manufacturers globally.”

Earlier this week, grid interconnection of a 20-Megawatt DER site in Winneba, Ghana, was demonstrated per the requirements of the IEEE 1547 standard and the IEEE 1547 Conformity Assessment Programme commissioning process. The pilot demonstration provided insights into how commissioning to IEEE 1547 should be undertaken and how non-conformances can be best resolved.