Electric power provider Avista and the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have agreed to expand their work related to grid modernization.

The scope of the new agreement includes collaboration on new battery and thermal storage technologies, and the development and testing of transactive building controls for increased grid reliability and resiliency. By using algorithms and analytics developed by PNNL, Avista will be able to work with customers to coordinate service and help reduce load during peak demand.

The Siemems/DOE agreement could lead researchers to collaborate on technologies to help integrate innovative power electronic devices with the electric grid, including smart inverters for solar panels.In a related development, Siemens Corp. and three DOE national laboratories, including PNNL, agreed to conduct integrated experiments to test and validate novel software and hardware technologies intended to strengthen and modernize the electric grid.

Both agreements were announced at the Innovation XLab Grid Modernization Summit in Seattle. The Siemens agreement includes the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in addition to PNNL.

The Siemens/DOE agreement sets up a framework for research scientists to share information and resources, and to potentially collaborate on technologies to help integrate innovative power electronic devices with the electric grid, including smart inverters for solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles that are capable of supporting the nation’s power system.

Under the agreement reached with Avista, researchers will create a testbed for advanced distribution management systems, including open-source software Avista is developing with Duke Energy. That software makes use of interoperability concepts and distributed intelligence, and enables individual updates to “micro-services” rather than the entire system. This is expected to allow utilities to more efficiently integrate, coordinate and optimize diverse assets and add new grid management functionality (including the energy grid, traditional and renewable generation, and customer assets).

Avista and PNNL plan to work with local government agencies to develop a protocol and methodology for establishing a “Home Energy Score” to inform owners and buyers of a home’s potential energy performance. Avista engineers will develop the analytics model that can quantify and create a metric for residential energy efficiency. PNNL will provide the analytics and a review of the process necessary to create a metric that will be used to tailor energy efficiency solutions to customers.

Canadian project

Also in late January, Siemens Canada, New Brunswick Power (NB Power) and Nova Scotia Power (NSP) agreed to conduct a joint project to develop and demonstrate smart grid technology to better manage electricity and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the provinces.

The overall investment for the project amounts to $70 million. The partners will research and test in real-time how the grid of the future can optimize integration of renewables, ensure stability of the grid and manage decentralized distribution to better manage the provinces’ electricity, potentially reduce future electricity costs for consumers and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The pilot project, officially called Smart Grid Atlantic, is being funded in part by the Government of Canada's Strategic Innovation Fund.

Siemens will research and develop software and NB Power and NSP will provide assets and customer engagement to demonstrate and test the platforms.