EMT Studies and Grid-Forming Resources: Translating Grid Needs Into Practical Requirements
September 8, 2026
Time: 2:00 PM ET | 1:00 PM CT | 11:00 AM PT
Duration: 60 minutes
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Summary
As inverter-based resources continue to grow across power systems, utilities, ISOs, and developers are accelerating efforts to define the role of grid-forming technologies in maintaining reliability. Yet many current requirements focus on plant-level behavior without a consistent framework for linking those specifications to actual system needs.
Electromagnetic transient (EMT) studies are becoming essential for understanding fast dynamic performance, control interactions, system strength challenges, and fault behavior in increasingly inverter-dominated grids. They also provide a pathway to evaluate how different technologies—including grid-forming inverters, synchronous condensers, and hybrid solutions—can meet reliability needs under varying grid conditions.
This webinar will bring together industry experts to discuss how EMT analysis is being used today, where current practices need improvement, and how planners can translate system-level reliability needs into practical, technology-neutral performance requirements. Topics include study methodologies, model quality, planning applications, and lessons learned from real-world deployments.
Speakers
Matt Mazhari
Director, Transmission Planning
Electric Power Engineers
Dr. Matt Mazhari is a power system expert and engineering leader with over 15 years of experience in transmission planning, reliability studies, and grid modernization. He leads a team of 50+ transmission planners conducting complex system reliability assessments across PJM, Southeast regions, and WECC. Matt is a subject matter expert in power system stability and has developed advanced study methodologies to address emerging grid challenges, including renewable integration and evolving transmission needs. He holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and has dedicated his career to improving the reliability and resilience of modern power systems.
Mostafa Sedighizadeh
Lead Engineer, Engineering Policy & Innovation
Southwest Power Pool
Mostafa Sedighizadeh (PhD, PE, SMIEEE, and CIGRE Member) is currently Lead Engineer of the Engineering Policy & Innovation team at SPP in Little Rock, AR, USA. He has over 26 years of experience in the electric power systems industry, spanning substation and transmission line design, as well as transmission system planning and research. Before joining SPP, he contributed extensively to these fields. Dr. Sedighizadeh has contributed to NERC, ESIG, and IEEE task forces and he has authored over 230 publications in prestigious journals and international conferences, including IEEE, IET, and Elsevier. He is involved in developing planning requirements for SPP HVDC interconnections, IEEE 2800-2022 adoption in SPP, SPP GFM requirements, SPP large load ride through requirements, and SPP generating facilities modeling requirements.
Julieta Giraldez (Moderator)
Director, Grid Planning
Electric Power Engineers
Julieta Giraldez is a nationally and internationally recognized subject matter expert in distributed energy resource (DER) grid integration with extensive expertise in grid modeling and planning processes. She currently works at Electric Power Engineers (EPE) as a Director of Grid Planning where she implements holistic approaches to meet customers’ needs through the optimized planning and operation of generation, transmission, distribution, and distributed resources. Julieta holds a bachelor’s degree from the Polytechnic University of Madrid (Spain) in Technical Mining Engineering, a master’s in electrical engineering from Colorado School of Mines, and a Ph.D. program in systems engineering from Colorado State University.
Jason Ploof
Lead Engineer
ISO New England
Jason Ploof is a Lead Engineer in the Operations Technical Studies group at ISO New England, where he has worked for the past eight years. He joined the organization after earning a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Vermont and later received a master's degree in Power Systems from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Over the past five years, Jason has worked with electromagnetic transient (EMT) models in operations studies, including both EMT and hybrid simulation study work.
