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Posted On: 11/05/2008

New research center targets green grid

PlantServices.com

One of the limitations on the development of alternative energy sources such as wind, solar and biofuels has been the difficulty of transmitting electric power from the sources to appropriate concentrations of consumers. In September, the National Science Foundation (NSF) launched a new Engineering Research Center (ERC) for Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management (FREEDM) Systems with an award of $18.5 million to North Carolina State University and its partners.

The NSF ERC for FREEDM Systems will research how to transform the nation's power grid into an efficient network that integrates alternative energy generation and novel storage methods with existing power sources. This new, distributed network would permit any combination and scale of energy sources and storage devices through standard interface modules. The Center's overall goal is to facilitate the use of green energy sources, reduce the environmental effect of carbon emissions, and alleviate the growing energy crisis.

The NSF ERC for FREEDM Systems will be based at North Carolina State University (NCSU) in Raleigh, in partnership with Arizona State University, Florida A&M University, Florida State University and Missouri University of Science and Technology. Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen University in Germany and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology will contribute additional expertise and international perspectives.

More than 65 industry partners, including many small start-up firms, will spur innovation and provide university students with first-hand experience in entrepreneurship. The NSF ERC for FREEDM Systems also will work with 18 state and local government organizations in North Carolina, Arizona, California, Florida, New York and Tennessee to stimulate innovation based on its research.

ABB is among the first partners to endorse the new center and plans to support it with technology development modernizing the power grid and speeding renewable energy development. The announcement was made at GridWeek 2008, a U.S. Department of Energy conference in Washington, D.C., aimed at advancing smart grid initiatives.

Since October 2007, ABB has been heavily involved in parallel research and development activities through the ABB Corporate Research Center, located on the NCSU Centennial Campus next to ABB’s Power Products and Power Systems North American headquarters. “We share the ERC’s vision of promoting the education of power engineers for the next generation,” says Le Tang, ABB vice president and director of the Corporate Research Center in Raleigh. “This is among the top priorities within ABB Corporate Research.”

The term “smart grid” refers to a wide range of technologies and operating procedures that will make today’s power system into one that is largely automated, applying greater intelligence to operate, monitor and even heal itself. The smart grid will use the same basic power delivery infrastructure in use today, but also will draw on advanced monitoring, control and communications technology.

ABB takes an expansive view of the smart grid, defining it by its capabilities and operational characteristics rather than by the use of any particular technology. The smart grid will act as an enabler for all forms of renewable energy generation.