Resilient distribution systems to be validated
News Release
September 12, 2017 
RICHLAND, Wash. - The D.O.E.'s Pacific Northwest National Lab will lead 2 new plans to advance resilient distribution systems, focusing on the integration of clean distributed energy resources. PNNL will also partner with other labs on 3 additional demonstrations aimed at validating new approaches and technologies to make the aging grid more resilient and secure.
D.O.E. announced today that up to $32 million dollars will go to 7 plans - including the 5 involving PNNL - aimed at creating more resilient distribution systems as part of the department's Grid Modernization Initiative.
With the new plan funding, PNNL will lead a team to demonstrate resilient and secure power distribution strategies that allow for more flexible distribution, as well as the integration of more distributed energy resources such as customer-owned solar production. Duke Energy, a core team member based in North Carolina, will test these strategies in its six-state service territory.
The flexibility scheme will be applicable to a wide range of technology combinations, but the field demonstration will focus on a specific example of a "self-healing" grid approach. A fault location, isolation and restoration system will focus on connections between localized small solar power installations. The developed capabilities will be applied across of all of Duke's service territory, as well as utilities across the nation. The project, called Increasing Distribution Resiliency using Flexible DER and Microgrid Assets Enabled by OpenFMB, is funded at up to $6 million over 3 years and includes Oak Ridge National Lab and National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
PNNL will also lead the Lab Value Analysis Team for each of the other 6 resilient distribution system projects. Using metrics developed by the Grid Modernization Lab Consortium, the analysis team will assess and determine the economic value of the plan impacts and validate the technologies and operations strategies in each plan before and after deployment.
The LVAT team will use market data reflecting current energy, ancillary services, outage cost estimates and avoided capital cost estimates, as well as perform projections to estimate future values of such services or benefits of the technologies demonstrated. PNNL will team with NREL, Argonne, Lawrence Berkeley and Sandia national labs in this assessment.
PNNL experts will also team on 3 other resilient distribution system plan teams.
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Resilient Alaskan Distribution System Enhancements using Automation, Network Analysis, Control, and Energy Storage (RADIANCE). Led by Idaho National Laboratory, this plan aims to enhance the resilience of distribution grids under harsh weather, cyberthreats and dynamic grid conditions using multiple networked microgrids, energy storage and advanced measurement devices.
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Integration of Responsive Residential Loads intoDistribution Management Systems. Led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, this plan will research and test resilience and interoperability of open-source home energy management systems with distribution management systems - a collection of applications that monitor and control electricity distribution networks.
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CleanStart-DERMS. Led by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, this plan will demonstrate the ability of distributed energy resources - for example, microgrids or fuel cells - to play an essential role in outage recovery and restoration activities. This research is expected to be transformational to utilities that experience a rapid influx of distributed energy resources.
The full list of all new resilient distribution system plans funded through DOE's Grid Modernization Initiative is accessible on DOE's website.
PNNL is nationally acknowledged for expertise in power system engineering, data analytics, grid architecture, high-performance and exascale computing, energy storage and cybersecurity.
These plan awards and ensuing demonstrations are funded over 3 years.
Tags: Energy, Green Energy, Smart Grid
Interdisciplinary teams at Pacific Northwest National Lab address many of America's most pressing issues in energy, the environment and national security through advances in basic and applied science. Founded in 1965, PNNL employs 4,400 staff and has an yearly budget of nearly $1 billion. It is managed and operated by Battelle for the D.O.E.'s Office of Science. As the single biggest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, the Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information on PNNL, visit the PNNL News Center, or follow PNNL on Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.
