Two well-known Atlanta, Ga. institutions — Georgia Power and the Georgia Institute of Technology — are teaming to build a $10-$15 million research microgrid to achieve a "quantum leap" in understanding the technology. Contact online >>
Two well-known Atlanta, Ga. institutions — Georgia Power and the Georgia Institute of Technology — are teaming to build a $10-$15 million research microgrid to achieve a "quantum leap" in understanding the technology.
Owned by Georgia Power, a Southern Company utility, the 1.4 MW microgrid will serve several buildings at Georgia Tech''s 400-acre campus in midtown Atlanta.
It''s goal is to uncover information about microgrid operations — both technical and business — to make development easier.
"The microgrid is a solution that is very appealing but not entirely understood," said Santiago Grijalva, director of the Advanced Computational Electricity Systems (ACES) Laboratory for Georgia Tech. "We see this as an opportunity to make a quantum leap in understanding."
The research microgrid will incorporate energy storage, a fuel cell and a micro-turbine and is designed to eventually accommodate solar panels and electric vehicle chargers.
The university plans to configure the microgrid''s resources so that students can gather data on controllers, cybersecurity devices, business models and energy economics. The team wants to develop models that utility customers can adopt.
"How do we scale the concept and methodologies and frameworks so that similar installations can be reproduced?" said Grijalva in an interview with Microgrid Knowledge.
Core equipment, such as the micro-turbines, are being purchased via competitive solicitation; other components will be added via donations. The partners are inviting vendors to bring their controllers and test them in the microgrid.
"The controllers will be fairly advanced so that they can be swapped. More than one vendor will be selected, and more than one system installed and tested," said Grijalva.
The university also hopes to develop a digital simulator that reveals "in high fidelity" layers of operation within the microgrid – the exchange and coordination of physical energy, information, energy and money, he said.
"We want the students to be able to see the system, to have access to the historical data bases, and use the data in a variety of simulations and experiments," he said.
For Georgia Power, the research microgrid creates a chance "to evaluate how microgrids can be integrated and operated seamlessly as a grid asset," said Jacob Hawkins Georgia Power spokesman.
"The microgrid will create a living lab opportunity for us to plug and play new technologies as they are developed and will help us better understand the challenges of placing this type of installation in an urban area," Hawkins said.
But the project is not purely experimental. The microgrid also will serve several campus buildings, including the College of Business, administrative offices, a data center and a hotel. Able to island, it will provide backup power to the buildings when the central grid fails. Its topology will be flexible, allowing power to be routed to the buildings as they need it.
The microgrid also offers an opportunity to explore business models and contracts, since it will operate via a power purchase agreement (PPA) and include operational agreements with vendors.
"We are developing the documents to describe how these agreements will take place. If a manufacturer of a cybersecurity solution wants to test here, we need to be able to integrate that and make sure we have a very clean process to publish the data, do the experiment, operate the microgrid, and know how it influences the PPA," said Grijalva.
One of the buildings the microgrid will serve — a commercial structure with a data center and super computer — is under construction. The building is expected to be complete in about two years, about the same time as the microgrid.
"It is a growing market, a very key solution" — Grijalva
George Tech estimates the microgrid will cost $10 to $15 million; a more precise figure will be available following results of equipment solicitations.
The project comes as the power industry enters "a tipping point" that may change as grid architecture becomes more aligned with microgrid-based systems, according to Grijalva. "Microgrids are very important for the industry. It is a growing market, a very key solution for high reliability, reduced costs and sustainability."
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Elisa Wood is the editor and founder of EnergyChangemakers . She is co-founder and former editor of Microgrid Knowledge.
Georgia Power, PowerSecure and the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) gathered on June 16, 2021 to celebrate the opening of the 1.4-megawatt microgrid demonstration in Midtown Atlanta’s Tech Square. The multi-block district boasts the highest density of startups, corporate innovators, academic researchers and students in the Southeast.
The microgrid, which was approved by the Georgia Public Service Commission in 2019, is being used to evaluate how a microgrid can effectively integrate into and operate as part of the overall electrical grid. Additionally, it will serve as a living laboratory forGeorgia Techprofessors and students to gather data on controllers, cybersecurity devices and energy economics.
"The Tech Square Microgrid, is a proven innovative project that will help us better understand microgrids to help service our customers. It brings energy storage and data front and center for research. The Microgrid''s distributed energy resources are vital to enhancing grid resiliency and bringing sustainable energy solutions to Georgia''s communities," saidChris Womack, chairman, president and CEO for Georgia Power.
"Georgia Techis one of the nation''s leading research institutions and has been an integral partner in allowing their students and teachers to learn how these systems will interact not only with our grid, but also with the CODA building on theGeorgia Techcampus. It''s by collectively working together through projects like this that we will build a brighter energy future for our state."
PowerSecure, a Southern Company subsidiary and the nation’s leading distributed energy infrastructure provider, implemented the latest in microgrid technology for this project. PowerSecure’s team of experts has installed, managed and serviced 2+GW of microgrid capacity over the past 20 years, as well as over $800 million of energy efficiency upgrades.
The installation includes fuel cells, battery storage, diesel generators and a natural gas generator, and it is adaptive to new and additional distributed energy resources. It is designed to also accommodate microturbines, solar panels and electric vehicle chargers in the future.
“The Tech Square Microgrid serves as an exciting example of distributed energy resources that connect both possibility and opportunity. The project provides direct learning pathways for students and professors at the Georgia Tech campus – uncovering the crucial role of microgrids as a part of an energy management strategy,” said James Smith, Chief Operating Officer for PowerSecure.
“This advanced microgrid is designed to support capacity resources to Georgia Power, as well as resiliency benefits to the Coda Data Center. Through the Tech Square Microgrid, we’re working together to gather new insights from these smart generation assets: to help our customers and communities prepare for the road ahead, while also empowering the future energy leaders of tomorrow.”
"Georgia Techis committed to addressing the most consequential challenges of our time," saidGeorgia TechPresident Ángel Cabrera. "That involves advancing science and technology, developing leaders who can create and deploy new solutions, and leading by example with our own practices. This microgrid is a great illustration of the latter. In our partnership with Georgia Power and the Georgia Public Service Commission, we will be developing and adopting some of the most advanced, efficient, and responsible energy solutions available in the hope we can serve as an example for others."
All microgrid components will be placed on a platform and obscured from view with seven-foot-high fencing and gate access along Williams Street. The fencing will have a mural designed and commissioned byAtlanta-based artistGeorgia F. Baker IIIto be finished later this year.
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