Contact: Bob Frank, WSU Today
Pullman to become smart grid community
PULLMAN - A group of WSU researchers will be working with Avista
on a demonstration project that hopes to make the city of Pullman
the region's first smart grid community. The Pullman project is
part of a Department of Energy regional smart grid demonstration
project throughout the Northwest that is designed to expand upon
existing electric infrastructure and test new smart grid
technology.
Using smart grid technologies, the Pacific Northwest Smart Grid
Demonstration Project, announced by DOE today (http://www.energy.gov/news2009/8305.htm)
will test new combinations of devices, software and advanced
analytical tools that enhance the power grid's reliability and
performance. The total estimated cost for the project is $178
million with DOE providing half the funding through the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The project's participants,
primarily utilities and industry team members will provide the
remaining funds.
The $38 million Pullman project involves automation of many parts
of the electric distribution system using advanced metering
technology, enhanced communication, and other elements of the smart
grid. The project is intended to show how smart grid technology can
enhance the safety, reliability, and efficiency of energy delivery
on a regional and national level.
As part of the project, WSU along with Schweitzer Engineering
Laboratories are set to serve as 'micro-grids,' locally-based,
electricity producing power grids, says Anjan Bose, Regents
Professor in the WSU School of Electrical Engineering and Computer
Science (EECS). Serving as a micro-grid, WSU will communicate with
Avista to improve electric power efficiency throughout the
community.
WSU has its own generating plant, which runs on natural gas and
diesel fuel. The generating plant is used primarily to produce
steam to heat buildings on campus, but it also includes back-up
generators which produce electricity. The campus back-up generators
are used to provide power to critical facilities and systems in the
event a utility power outage occurs. As part of the smart grid
project, WSU will be communicating with Avista for the first time
to optimize power generation throughout the community, so that the
WSU power-producing facilities might be called upon to provide
electricity if the Avista power grid should become unstable or
over-loaded.WSU will also identify loads which could be temporarily
shed in response to Avista signals to assist with stabilizing the
power grid. The EECS power engineering researchers and students
will be involved in research, development, design, testing, and
data analysis of the 'micro-grid' system.
"The micro-grid provides a local way of controlling electricity
production and distribution and should make the whole system more
responsive to people's needs,'' says Bose. "This is a good
demonstration project of one of the ways that we can make the grid
smarter.''
"This Smart Grid project allows WSU to take a leading role in
addressing our nation's most critical challenges in energy and the
environment,'' says Candis Claiborn, dean of the College of
Engineering and Architecture. "I look forward to a future in which
these smart grid innovations being studied here at WSU will lead to
cleaner and more efficient energy use for all of us.''
In addition to Bose, other EECS researchers on the project include
Mani Venkatasubramanian, Dave Bakken, and Carl Hauser. Terry Ryan,
director of WSU's energy systems operations, has also taken a
leading role on the project. In addition to WSU and Avista, other
team members on the Pullman project include Schweitzer Engineering,
Itron, Hewlett Packard, and Spirae.