US-European Workshop: Grid at the Edge-towards the zero-carbon power grid with improved visibility, safety and reliability at Split, Croatia on May 23-24, 2022.

Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, College Station TX

Investigators

Abstract

This proposal requests funding to provide travel subsidies for university professors to attend the NSF Joint US-European Workshop to define the research directions for the Grid Edge. The workshop to be held in Split, Croatia on May 23-24, 2022 will be focusing on unresolved problems, technology requirements and research directions for the time horizon of 5-10 years. This workshop intends to bring together the travel grant recipients, as well as industry and government stakeholders from the US and Europe to address the Grid Edge concepts, fundamentals and vision holistically. The participants will discuss and coordinate a research strategy and related action plan to meet industry needs for new solutions in response to the new developments affecting the grid. The grid edge is considered a crucial development for the future of the electricity grids and requires contributions from academics, engineers, policy makers, economists, social scientists, government officials, and technology leaders in delivering the next generation grid solutions for the benefits of the society. The fundamental concepts needed for advancing the grid Edge require an interdisciplinary approach involving basic research, applied engineering, technology innovation, behavioral studies, market economics, and policy insights. The grid edge is defined in this context through multiple dimensions: a) the asset ownership, which entails the utility owned and non-utility owned assets, b) the edge stakeholder role, which encompasses the utility-centric and third party-centric view, and the view that focuses on the need to closely collaborate across the edge boundaries, and c) the structured operational layers covering physical grid components, control and protection, the technology, cyber-physical security and privacy, markets, regulatory framework, and business models. This workshop will continue the NSF past and current efforts undertaken through a recent series of timely workshops to offer additional research insight and a perspective focusing on the cyber and physical aspects of energy generation and consumption at the grid edge. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.