CAISO Interconnection Module Package

Stage 1: Cluster Application Window and Customer Engagement Window

• Support you through the annual Cluster Application Window (October 1 to October 15), including CAISO's completeness check, and the ninety-day Customer Engagement Window that follows, including the Cluster Study Criteria Evaluation and any auction, Technical Validation and the Study Area Scoping Meeting.
• Screen candidate Points of Interconnection against CAISO's posted injection capacity heatmap and the Transmission Zone single-line diagrams and Area Deliverability Constraint data CAISO publishes by September 1, and support your choice of the definitive Point of Interconnection (POI), due ten days after the window closes.
• Coordinate with inverter, turbine and power plant controller manufacturers to obtain the models, settings and data the request requires.
• Develop the plant load flow model in GE PSLF .epc format, with an explicit interconnection line and substation transformers, an equivalent collector system, pad-mount transformer and generator, and all plant-level reactive devices, following CAISO's IBR (inverter-based resource) Dynamic Model Review Guideline.
• Develop the dynamic model in GE PSLF .dyd format using generic library models approved by the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) (converter, electrical control, plant controller, voltage and frequency protection, and wind turbine models where applicable), and integrate the PSLF user-defined model supplied by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and the validation evidence (attestations or test data) that Appendix KK requires for non-synchronous facilities. For synchronous units, model the generator, exciter, governor and power system stabilizer per Attachment A.
• Perform CAISO's model quality tests with the CAISO IBR Dynamic Model Validation Procedure: flat run, bump test, plant controller voltage or reactive power reference step, frequency reference step and voltage ride-through playback test, and produce the plots the Interconnection Request requires.
• Review voltage and frequency ride-through protection settings against the PRC-029 ride-through envelopes with CAISO's spreadsheet tool.
• Develop the reactive power capability document and the load flow plot of requested MW at the Point of Interconnection, and evaluate reactive capability against the Large Generator Interconnection Agreement (LGIA) Article 9.6.1 power factor design criteria: 0.95 leading to 0.95 lagging at the high side of the generator substation for asynchronous facilities, and 0.95 leading to 0.90 lagging at the generator terminals for synchronous units.
• Prepare generator short-circuit data, transformer data and the remaining Attachment A technical data in the Excel format CAISO requires, and check the site drawing and single-line diagram for consistency with the models.
• Prepare the requested storage operating assumptions (charging or not at peak load) and the description of the control technologies that enforce them, where the plant includes storage.
• Prepare responses to CAISO and Participating Transmission Owner (Participating TO) validation notices on modeling errors, inaccurate data or unusable files within the cure period, and support you at the Study Area Scoping Meeting. You submit the request, all attachments and all responses through GRIP.

Stage 2: Cluster Study, Annual Reassessment/Cluster Restudy and Interconnection Facilities Study

• Review the Cluster Study power flow, short circuit and stability databases and workpapers that CAISO provides to you on request, and review the Cluster Study Report results (short circuit, stability, power flow including off-peak, and On-Peak Deliverability Assessment).
• Identify plant-side mitigation options for study findings, such as reactive devices, control settings or Interconnection Service Capacity below Generating Facility Capacity, and support you at the Cluster Study Report Meeting and any Cluster Restudy Report Meeting.
• Prepare the updated Attachment A models and technical package for modification requests and Permissible Technological Advancements, including CAISO model quality test results.
• Update models and technical data for the Appendix B Data Form after the Reassessment/Restudy Report and for the Interconnection Facilities Study Agreement.
• Review the draft Interconnection Facilities Study Report and prepare technical comments within the thirty-day comment period.

Stage 3: Generator Interconnection Agreement and Construction

• Review the technical requirements in the GIA (Appendix LL or MM), including the ride-through, power factor and data recording requirements for asynchronous facilities in LGIA Appendix H or Small Generator Interconnection Agreement (SGIA) Attachment 7, against the plant design and models.
• Update the GE PSLF models to the final equipment, firmware and settings, rerun the CAISO model quality tests, and prepare the updated information submission due no later than 180 calendar days before Trial Operation.
• Prepare the Generator Dynamic Model File and PSLF load flow data for the CAISO New Resource Implementation (Full Network Model) submission, and the inverter control and protection settings documentation.
• Develop the plant PSCAD electromagnetic transient (EMT) model per the CAISO EMT Modeling Requirements, including the site-specific test case and the fault, voltage or reactive power reference step and frequency or active power reference step tests, and benchmark the PSCAD results against the GE PSLF model.
• Provide model and data support for a Limited Operation Study when you seek to operate before your Network Upgrades are complete, and for modification requests during construction.

Stage 4: Trial Operation and Commercial Operation

• Update the models with as-built and as-tested data and prepare the information supplementation required before Trial Operation.
• Prepare test plans for and analyze the tests CAISO requires: for Category 1 and 2 units under the Business Practice Manual (BPM) for Transmission Planning Process, real and reactive power capability verification (staged test or operational data) and the plant volt/var and active power/frequency control tests under the WECC Generating Facility Data, Testing and Model Validation Requirements, with test reports due within twelve months after the Commercial Operation Date (COD); and, for synchronous units, the open circuit step voltage test before Trial Operation.
• Validate and tune the GE PSLF and PSCAD models against the test results.
• Provide as-built impedances, control settings and transformer tap settings in the models for the as-built package due within 120 calendar days after the Commercial Operation Date.

Stage 5: Post-Commercial Operation

• Prepare the generator modeling data package under the BPM for Transmission Planning Process (data template, .epc and .dyd initialization snapshot, and the no-fault run output spread table), due within 120 calendar days after the Commercial Operation Date or CAISO's data request, whichever is later, and the test reports and PSCAD EMT model due within twelve months of the same trigger.
• Prepare responses to CAISO and Participating TO deficiency notices on submitted model data.
• Update models after any change to IBR control settings, protection settings or equipment, validate them with the CAISO IBR Dynamic Model Validation Procedure, and prepare the post-COD modification technical package (revised Attachment A, GE PSLF models and validation results).
• Support the periodic tests and model updates: real and reactive capability every five years and dynamic stability every ten years.