PFI:BIC - Developing Advanced Resilient Microgrid Technology to Improve Disaster Response Capability

Clarkson University, Potsdam NY

Investigators

Abstract

The Partnership for Innovation: Building Innovation Capacity (PFI:BIC) project, led by Clarkson University researchers, aims to develop advanced resilient microgrid technology to improve disaster response capability. Advanced resilient microgrid technology provides continuous electric service to support critical services to people displaced during extreme disasters; and provides electric service to support recovery crews working to restore services. In an emergency, the microgrid is an electrical "island", idependent of the main power grid and serves these critical loads through local power generation. This project will focus on the human-machine operational impacts of the microgrid both during normal operations as well as during disaster response. The development of "smart scheduler" technology will enable the microgrid operator and the local disaster response team to maximize the microgrid's performance during the disaster recovery. The microgrid must operate successfully disconnected from the grid for two weeks or more in catastrophic situations where the level of damage is unanticipated and the microgrid itself has experienced reduced capability. Human-machine capability will be developed to respond to rapidly changing community needs with a minimum of human effort. The project will complement ongoing projects to plan and design a resilient underground microgrid in Potsdam, New York. The Potsdam microgrid features a unique partnership of generator owners, local government, regulated utility, and critical load entities. This diverse set of microgrid partners is key to providing the resilience required of the microgrid. At the same time, designing, building, and operating the microgrid as a unit with its diverse set of owners presents a range of challenges. Developing the capability to schedule and control the microgrid in both normal and emergency events is a critical element of this project. Equally important is the development of a microgrid design that provides this service at a minimum cost, by maximizing the benefit of the microgrid assets during the normal operation. The lead institution is Clarkson University (Coulter School of Engineering, School of Business, and School of Arts and Sciences). The primary industrial partner on the project is National Grid USA (Waltham, MA), the electric service provider for a large part of New York and New England, including Potsdam, NY. National Grid would own the underground distribution network that is the backbone of the microgrid. The Electric Power Research Institute, Knoxville, TN, is the broader context partner on the project. In Potsdam, NY, Clarkson University, SUNY Potsdam, the Village of Potsdam, and Canton-Potsdam Hospital are among the entities that would participate in the microgrid and are potential generation owners on the microgrid.