A study from Dartmouth College found that integrating renewable energy engineering into the American Electric Power System (AEPS) would enhance the power grid's resilience. This means that a highly resilient and decarbonized energy system is entirely viable and possible.

The analysis considered the gradual incorporation of architectural changes needed to integrate renewable energy into AEPS. There would be no structural trade-offs between grid sustainability and resilience enhancements of the grid.Image created by Dakota Thompson using the electric grid energy resources GIS data from S&P Global Platts. Source: Dakota Thompson/Dartmouth

The results of the structural analysis were the first to take into account the hetero-functionality of grid’s resources. Hetero-functionality, a new analysis method, was used to capture the true connectedness and capabilities of the power grid.

The team used model hetero-functional graph theory to analyze over 175,000 energy resources through the U.S, including power plants, substations and transmission lines. This allowed them to track the system capabilities and structural resilience.

This study could be the basis for bipartisan consensus on the electric power grid transformation. The team is now focusing on developing a synthetic model of the American Multi-Modal Energy System so other researchers can study how the model can evolve to meet current and future power needs.

The study was published in IEEE Access.