Isolate and automate grid recovery.
NREL & Partners Build All-Data Approach for Automated Grid Recovery - CleanTechnicahttps://cleantechnica.com/2023/04/28/nrel-partners-build-all-data-approach-for-automated-grid-recovery/With partner technologies and community input, NREL will demonstrate an automated, affordable, all-in-one method for grid resilience, which can and will be used by vulnerable communities and the utilities that service them. The project is named Solar-HERO (Solar-Assisted, Stakeholder-Engaged Autonomous Restoration with Data Orchestration) and is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office as part of its RACER program.
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“Many people don’t realize that the most aggressive climate goals in the nation have been set by communities,” Ross said. “Not everything can be done by utilities, states, and the fed. We see that communities can be a vector of change for all society—once they make decisions about their energy direction, it drives change that otherwise wouldn’t happen. Everyone asks, ‘What does this mean for us?'”
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In this project, the automated recovery will require that inverter-based resources run things alone. In fact, they will need to dynamically reconfigure into new electrical islands, remaining strong and stable throughout disruptive events. NREL has particular expertise in designing grid-forming controls, and such capability will be further demonstrated in this project.
Meanwhile, Iowa State University will design an optimized black start and service restoration scheme that maintains stability while shifting between microgrid configurations. This will be a breakthrough in distribution grid restoration, allowing solar, storage, and other distributed energy to have a greater role in recoveries everywhere.
Connexus Energy, the Midwest’s largest cooperative and among the top 5% nationwide for reliability, was selected to host the field pilot and prove its reliability and resilience with the use of solar and storage. With the integration of community engagement, all-data resilience situational awareness, and optimized restoration, the team will upgrade the controls, sensing, and situational awareness of the pilot community’s electrical service and, in the process, demonstrate a new concept for the grid: resilience using 100% renewable energy.
“In the future, when communities make decisions about increasing their capacity for distributed and renewable energy for the sake of climate goals and clean air, they can have confidence that the investments are also resilient,” Ross said.