More than 120 people gathered for the 2024 Innovation Network for Fusion Energy (INFUSE) Workshop at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory from Feb. 27-28. The event, which was sponsored by the DOE’s Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (FES), is a part of the INFUSE awards program that funds laboratories or universities so they can partner with private sector companies working on the science and technology solutions that will bring fusion energy to the power grid. To date, DOE has granted 90 awards, with most ranging from $100,000 to $350,000 for a 12-month project.
Tag: Power Grid
New method monitors grid stability with hydropower project signals
Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, have developed an algorithm to predict electric grid stability using signals from pumped storage hydropower projects.
Protecting the protectors: Virginia Tech researchers work to secure power grid communication on military bases.
For months, U.S. officials have been sniffing out malicious computer code that they suspect to be planted inside the power grid and communication control systems on U.S. military bases. Virginia Tech researchers already are working on a plan to secure future military base power grid operations and their critical missions from such threats.
GW Experts on Energy Grid Resiliency After Texas Ice Storm
Thousands of people across the state of Texas were still without power early Friday after an ice storm hit the state and parts of the U.S. South this week. Local officials are attributing the outages to frozen equipment and ice-burdened…
Expert: No easy solutions to protect power grid from crippling gunfire attacks
A Tulane University expert on homeland security says recent attacks and vandalism on electrical substations have raised questions about protecting these valuable pieces of America’s infrastructure. Last week, gunshots severely damaged two substations in Moore County, N.C., leaving 45,000 homes…
As the grid adds wind power, researchers have to reengineer recovery from blackouts
When electric grids go down, there’s no way to restore them — “blackstart” them — with power from wind turbines. Iowa State’s Hugo Villegas Pico is leading a team that’s working to develop strategies and controllers that would reenergize power grids dominated by wind power.
Challenges in Modern Power Electronics Penetrated Power Grid
Professor Michael Chi Kong Tse, the Chair Professor of the Department of Electrical Engineering (EE) at the City University of Hong Kong (CityU), presented an online talk as part of the Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS) Distinguished Lecture Series on Electronics and Photonics on 12 April 2022, titled ” Challenges of Modern Power Grid in the Midst of Deepening Power Electronics Penetration and Increasing Renewable Energy Use”.
Offshore Wind Plan Boosts Clean Energy
The 30 gigawatts of offshore wind farms that is proposed under a new Biden administration plan will be essential for curbing climate change, said Tufts expert Eric Hines. It will also be a key step in modernizing the national power grid toward more reliable, sustainable energy.
Global solar grid risks solar inequity across developing world
India and the U.K. — in partnership with the World Bank and the International Solar Alliance — have launched a new initiative aimed at creating a solar grid across the Middle East, South Asia and Southeast Asia. Its goal is…
NYU Center for Cybersecurity explores Power Grid Cyber Security
The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) reports that a large number of cyber-attacks occur on cyber-physical systems for which a computer and ancillary sensors are used to control the infrastructure. An industrial control system strategy is required to improve grid resiliency, secure operations and better manage potential cyber risks.
Experts: Atmospheric Scientists Available to Discuss the Texas Power Crisis
ALBANY, N.Y. (Feb. 18, 2021) – A blast of winter weather knocked out power for more than 4 million people in Texas, as record-low temperatures brought on a demand for heat that the state’s electric grid could not keep up…
UNC Charlotte’s Energy Production and Infrastructure Center is One of 10 Selected Nationwide for U.S. Department of Energy Award
UNC Charlotte’s Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC) has been selected for a $3.6 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) to improve the resilience and reliability of the regional grid.
Transactive Energy: Negotiating New Terrain
PNNL’s longstanding grid and buildings capabilities are driving two projects that test transactive energy concepts on a grand scale and lay the groundwork for a more efficient U.S. energy system.
Smart Devices to Schedule Electricity Use May Prevent Blackouts
Power plants generate electricity and send it into power lines that distribute energy to nodes where it can be used. But if the electricity load is more than the system’s capacity, transmission can fail, leading to a cascade of failures throughout the electric grid. In the journal Chaos, researchers show demand side control may be an effective solution to stabilizing the reliability of power grids that use a mix of energy generation sources.
$39 Million to better integrate renewables into power grid
The National Science Foundation has awarded $39 million to a team of engineers and computer scientists at the University of California San Diego to build a first-of-its-kind testbed to better understand how to integrate distributed energy sources such as solar panels, wind turbines, smart buildings and electric vehicle batteries into the power grid. The goal is to make the testbed available to outside research teams and industry by 2025.
Power Player: Engineering professor researches how to keep America’s lights on
Ning Zhou from Binghamton University, State University of New York received a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award to provide a 21st-century vision for power systems.
Hybrid inverter integrates distributed energy resources, supports smart grid function
Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers have developed an intelligent power electronic inverter platform that can connect locally sited energy resources such as solar panels, energy storage and electric vehicles and smoothly interact with the utility power grid.
Second act: Used electric vehicle batteries charge up the grid
Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed an innovative control system for repurposed electric vehicle battery packs to store electricity for home use and are scaling up the technology to a large, power grid-level project.