ISA Interchange

My ISA Journey

Ashley Weckwerth — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 18:59:59 GMT

Upon graduating with a degree in chemical engineering, I was eager to enter the workforce and make a meaningful contribution. During my senior year, I set my sights on Burns & McDonnell, an engineering firm headquartered in Kansas City, and I was thrilled to join its oil and gas group as an instrumentation and controls engineer. I was ready for a challenge, and my department manager, who was involved in the local International Society of Automation (ISA) Kansas City section, suggested I join to accelerate my learning. As a recent graduate, I had a theoretical understanding of process control, but practical skills like specifying instruments, writing control narratives or even reading P&IDs were new to me. Fortunately, my company supported ISA membership for active members, so I decided to seize the opportunity.

Ask the Automation Pros: What Topics Should Be Covered in an Undergraduate Process Control Course?

Greg McMillan — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 16:00:00 GMT

The following discussion is part of an occasional series, “Ask the Automation Pros,” authored by Greg McMillan, industry consultant, author of numerous process control books and 2010 ISA Life Achievement Award recipient. Program administrators will collect submitted questions and solicit responses from automation professionals. Past Q&A videos are available on the ISA YouTube channel; you can view the playlist here. You can read posts from this series here.

From the 2026 ISA President: Continuing the Path Forward

Ashley Weckwerth — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 12:00:03 GMT

Happy New Year, ISA! I hope 2026 is off to a fabulous start for everyone, with big dreams and goals on the horizon. I know we have them here at ISA as we continue our incredible path forward.

Ask the Automation Pros: What Are the Prospects for an Autonomous Process Manufacturing Unit?

Greg McMillan — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 12:00:00 GMT

Power Dispatch Planning in Renewables (Solar)

Ankeet Anil Kaji — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 21:00:00 GMT

Power dispatch planning in renewable energy is the operational process of scheduling and controlling generating units to meet electricity demand while managing the variability of sources like wind and solar.
Typical renewable generation includes solar (PV, CSP) and wind.
Since renewable sources of power have a lower capacity factor, various measures for alternate power generation like a natural gas turbine, fuel cells or diesel generators can be used to offset the variation in power generation.
Long-term energy storage (10+ hours) plays a key role in power dispatch planning. A few examples of storage include batteries, CO2, molten salt and supercapacitors.

Introduction

Traditional dispatch assumes controllable generation (coal, gas, hydro).

Solar and wind are the dominant forces in renewable energy growth, with solar often leading in new capacity additions, while wind often contributes a larger share to current electricity generation. In this article, we will be specifically focused on the solar form of energy generation, as it is one of the fastest growing segments under renewable energy.

Renewables introduce:

Intermittency (solar & wind depend on weather)
Uncertainty (forecast errors)
Low marginal cost (near-zero fuel cost)
Grid constraints (ramping, reserves, congestion)

So renewable power dispatch planning must balance reliability, cost, emissions and grid stability.

Role of Energy Storage in Dispatch

Storage enables:

Smoothing renewable output
Peak shaving
Frequency regulation
Energy arbitrage

Dispatch decisions include:

Charge/discharge duration
State of charge (SOC) limits (for batteries)
Degradation costs (degradation of batteries is more prevalent than molten salt or CO2)

As shown in Figure 1 below, different combinations can be used for power generation and storage based on the following factors.

Project Size (MW Rating)

This plays a key role in selecting generation and storage technologies. For smaller size projects (less than 5 MW), PV will be more economical compared to CSP. Similarly, Li-ion battery or supercapacitor can be more economical as storage solution.

Land Area

The size of land available for project development will decide the power generation and storage technology, CO2 requires larger land area compared to other storage technologies.

Storage Capacity (Hours)

Like project size, duration decides energy storage technology. For longer-term energy storage (more than 6 hours), CO2 or molten salt can be more viable offering than batteries.

Battery Type	Duration	Remarks
Lead-Acid	Less than 2 hours	Typically used in UPS. Lower cost, but have degradation issues
Lithium-ion	Can be used up to 6 hours	Expensive compared to lead acid but have better design life up to 10 years
Flow Batteries (e.g., Vanadium Redox)	10+ hours	No degradation issues, but limited installed project experience
CO2	10+ hours	No degradation issues, but limited installed project experience
Molten salt (charged/heated using CSP)	10+ hours	No degradation issues

Permit Requirements

Evaluation needs to be done in terms of emission, sometimes using fuel cells is more beneficial compared to a natural gas turbine to meet Title V permits.

Figure 1

Results and Observations

Renewable Generation

PV is a more prevalent form of renewable generation compared to CSP. Furthermore, the supply chain is fairly established in the PV space, giving an advantage of shorter lead time and installation cost.

Back-Up Power

As solar generation technologies depend on weather, it is not possible to get nameplate power all the time. To compliment the loss of generation due to weather, fuel cells or natural gas turbines are preferred where natural gas is readily available. Diesel generators are also very common for back-up power.

Long-Term Energy Storage

While batteries are a very common form of short-term energy storage within the PV field, new alternatives are being explored for longer duration storage. With traditional lithium batteries, there is an issue with degradation and limited design life of 10-15 years. In such cases, molten salt, CO2 or flow batteries may be more economical over the project design life.

Conclusion

Solar field (PV or CSP) will generate power during the daytime. The excess power generated is used to charge the energy storage system. This stored power can be used during the nighttime.
Dispatch planning is the brain of the grid, ensuring clean, cheap and reliable power flows from variable sources to consumers efficiently.

References

National Laboratory of the Rockies (NREL)
Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)

From Words to Worlds to Work: Why Spatial Intelligence Belongs in the Automation Lifecycle

Mike Eisdorfer — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 21:00:00 GMT

Automation systems rarely fail because the control logic is incorrect. They fail because the physical reality does not behave the way planning documents assume it will.

Podomation Wins AVA Digital Award for Educational Podcast Series

lneiman@isa.org (Liz Neiman) — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 21:05:52 GMT

Podomation—the ISA podcast focused on industrial automation and cybersecurity—has won an AVA Digital Award - Gold for Educational Podcast Series.

Ask the Automation Pros: How Can You Get the Most Knowledge from a Data Historian?

Greg McMillan — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 12:00:01 GMT

AI in Industrial Applications: Common Misconceptions

Steve Mustard — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 20:30:00 GMT

Introduction

Artificial intelligence (AI) is often presented as a universal solution, promising gains in efficiency, predictive capability and decision-making across every sector. In industrial applications, however, the emphasis on safe, reliable and repeatable operation justifiably tempers this enthusiasm and drives a more cautious approach to adoption.

ISA Podcast Explores Leadership Lessons from Bees

Kara Phelps — Thu, 04 Dec 2025 12:00:00 GMT

The International Society of Automation (ISA) podcast, Podomation, curates and shares insightful discussions from top thought leaders in automation and industrial cybersecurity. Keep reading for a recap of one recent episode, Podomation 008: Leadership Lessons from Bees.