Harold DePriest of EPB, Thom Mason of ORNL and Patricia Hoffman of the U.S. Department of Energy
Officials of EPB and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory announced Monday they plan to partner on making further improvements to the Smart Grid that has brought Chattanooga national attention.
At a Monday morning round table discussion at the EPB headquarters that was also attended by U.S. Department of Energy representatives, officials said there are a number of pressing and complex issues relating to delivery of electric power to homes and businesses.
A memorandum of understanding was signed during the morning ceremonies that were attended by Senator Bob Corker and Congressman Chuck Fleischmann.
The event was titled "Future Seek: Where Energy Research Meets Application."
Officials said they want to work toward electrical grids that are both reliable and efficient.
Thom Mason, ORNL director, said one challenge to integrate is the increasing number of "off grid" energy applications, including solar and wind.
Another issue, he said, is how energy can be managed with the least negative impact on the climate and environment.
He also spoke of cyber security, saying there are hackers and even nation states who may want to disrupt electrical grids.
Harold DePriest, EPB president, said when he was a boy that power outages were not such a big deal. He said keeping the power on has become more and more essential.
He said prior losses to local firms due to loss of power was in the range of $80 million to $100 million per year. He said the Smart Grid has cut that by 60 percent.
EPB officials said, "Under the new agreement with EPB and DOE, Oak Ridge National Laboratory will apply its technical expertise in such areas as data analytics, control systems, cybersecurity and high-performance computer modeling to test new smart grid technologies and processes on the electric grid in Chattanooga, allowing EPB to further capitalize on its smart grid investment. Partially funded with $111.5 million in Recovery Act stimulus funds awarded by the Energy Department, EPB has made its distribution system more robust while improving operations with the deployment of smart grid technologies, which allow EPB to provide continued reliable electric service and respond more effectively to severe weather events."
“Our electric grid must deliver reliable, affordable, and clean electricity to consumers,” said Patricia Hoffman, assistant secretary for the Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability. “This new partnership will help improve our understanding of grid operations in valuable, new ways and represents another important step in moving the nation closer to the grid of the future.”
In addition to traditional laboratory simulation, testing applied science on Chattanooga’s fully operational smart grid will provide real-world understanding about the performance and ideal environments for emerging applications. Advanced analytics and data management will help EPB better leverage the data from its system’s advanced sensors to improve operations. Researchers plan to examine the benefits of advanced controls and microgrids, which have the potential for widespread deployment in distributed generation, storage and renewable systems. The collaborators also expect to use high performance computing for modeling and simulation to further broaden understanding of the system’s operations.
“Chattanooga’s smart grid is ideally suited to be a live extension of ORNL’s extensive research system,” said ORNL Director Mason. “The progressive nature of EPB allows for opportunities to demonstrate ORNL’s emerging technologies in Chattanooga’s real-world environment.”
Additionally, ORNL staff scientists can participate as “Engineering Scholars in Residence” to work on collaborative research projects.
The first project for the Engineering Scholars in Residence will be to write a comprehensive case study about the EPB network. This study can be used as a road map for other utilities with interest in building similar systems as well as a guide for technology development and testing.
“We find that when you put smart people together, they get even smarter. I look forward to seeing what happens when EPB’s engineering team is paired with scientists from ORNL,” said Mr. DePriest.
The organizations will also work together to develop strict protocols for protecting EPB customer privacy and data, ensuring that future testing of technologies does not negatively interfere with EPB’s customers’ experience."