Duke Energy has a significant penetration of grid-scale distributed energy resources (DERs) that are both utility and third-party-owned/ operated. The penetration of DERs is expected to grow sixfold by 2035, resulting in the need for integrated and advanced capabilities for monitoring, forecasting, and controlling assets alongside visibility and transparency for owners and operators.

To solve this complex challenge, Duke Energy is implementing the moDERnize project, developing the operating model and platform to enable efficiency, reliability, and scalability in the way Duke integrates, models, monitors, forecasts, controls, and settles front-of-the-meter, grid-scale DERs. The project enhances transmission operations with look-ahead, real-time unit commitment, automatic generation control, and security-constrained dispatch capabilities. It also incorporates a forecasting platform to provide DER generation forecasts to operations in regular time intervals. Finally, the moDERnize initiative includes a suite of modules to manage DER contract details, visualize and report on generation and curtailments, and perform generation volume aggregation for validation and inquiries. 

Through this initiative, the moDERnize project aims to unlock three types of benefits: avoiding costs with scale as DER penetration increases; enabling external stakeholders of over 700 DER sites to be partners with Duke Energy; enabling Duke Energy to achieve their carbon reduction goals.