Lead Performer: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory – Richland, WA
May 19, 2020
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Lead Performer: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory – Richland, WA
Partners:
-- Oak Ridge National Laboratory – Oak Ridge, TN
-- National Renewable Energy Laboratory – Golden, CO
-- University of North Carolina at Charlotte – Charlotte, NC
-- Smart Electric Power Alliance – Washington, DC
-- Duke Energy – Charlotte, NC
-- University of Tennessee – Knoxville, TN
DOE Total Funding: $715,000
Project Term: October 1, 2017 – September 30, 2020
Funding Type: Grid Modernization Laboratory Consortium Lab Call
Project Objective
As part of the Department of Energy Grid Modernization Laboratory Consortium (GMLC), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is leading this project to accelerate the deployment of resilient and secure distribution concepts through the flexible operation of traditional assets, distributed energy resources (DERs), and Microgrids. The primary goal of this project will be to increase the resiliency of distribution systems at utilities around the nation by deploying flexible operating strategies. These strategies will be validated with a field deployment in South Carolina. The GMLC effort is a joint collaboration between the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE) and the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
Centralized distribution management system (DMS) functions will be coordinated with decentralized DERs and Microgrid using OpenFMB, a reference architecture for security and interoperability. This represents a change in the operational paradigm from treating DERs and microgrids as boundary conditions to active system assets with distributed controls, enabling system flexibility to address all hazards. Interoperability will also be supported by using open standards such as DNP3, C37.18, and GOOSE in the operational system. The final goal of the project will be to deploy a "segment" based self-healing distribution system that actively engages DERs through a transactive control system. The segment based self-healing system will be designed to operate four distribution circuits as a collection of individual segments that have been designed to have the ability to operate connected in a wide range of topologies, well in excess of current technologies. During a resiliency event, the system will have the ability to reconfigure based on local control and on centralized controls to increase "optimality". To increase the flexibility of the system, the deployed DERs will be connected to a transactive control signal, which will incentivize the DERs to operate in a manner that increases the number of available reconfiguration options.
Project Impact
While this project will not integrate end-use loads as part of the field demonstration, an "adapter" will be made so that VOLTTRON enabled nodes can connect to the decentralized OpenFMB harness. This will allow the work of this project, and sibling GMLC projects to leverage one another. The project will also provide the foundational research necessary to enable an individual segment to seamlessly transition as a microgrid if there are no other sources available. The developed flexibility scheme will be applicable to a wide range of technology combinations, but the field demonstration will focus on a specific example of FLISR, solar photovoltaic (PV), and microgrids. The developed capabilities will be applicable to technologies deployed across the nation.
Contacts
DOE Technology Manager: Erika Gupta
Lead Performer: Dennis Stiles, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory